Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
We're Home!
Scott and I came home on Friday as scheduled. The boys and grandparents met us at the airport. It was amazing to see them all and let them finally meet Marygrace in person. Thank you so much for all the prayers for our trip (safety and health), Marygrace and bonding, the boys and grandparents (while we were gone). We have been so blessed and cannot believe how well everything went. Marygrace is a happy child and appears very comfortable in our arms, home and with the boys. When I met Josh in his classroom the children were all excited to meet Marygrace. Even among all the faces she recognized Josh right away and went right to him. He was beaming and was so proud of his sister! Matt and Andrew are equally proud and all three are competing for the title - Favorite Brother (they are not competitive like their dad)!!!
I will try to post pictures by the end of the week of our final days in China and Mary's first week at home. The jet lag has been difficult coming home, both Scott and I are exhausted (which is Not Allowed with four children)! Hopefully, we will feel back to normal soon. I cannot end this post without praising the Lord Jesus Christ for all He has done for us - We are so amazed at the work of our awesome God!!!
We do not believe for one minute that we just happened to be led to this child, that she just happened by chance to be hearing impaired (for those who don't know I am a speech pathologist who specialized in college in working with the deaf and have experience with deaf children and cochlear implants), Marygrace was not diagnosed with hearing loss until three months after we identified her as our daughter and were already well into the process of adopting her. Given Marygrace's age and obvious attachment to her caregiver in the orphanage we are amazed at how smooth her transition has been thus far and how well her personality fits perfectly into our active family. Most children would rightfullly be completely overwhelmed.
We have completely felt the Lord's hand and His leading throughout this process. There have also been hurdles to this adoption experience-just as we were getting ready to send our dossier to China, Kelley required surgery to remove an abdominal tumor (72 hours after surgery we found out it was benign-a surprize to even the surgeon who removed it). In hindsight, what a blessing it was discovered and removed and that I am fully recovered prior to bringing a two year old into our family. I am so enjoying holding, hugging, carrying and chasing after her (all which even a month or so ago would have still been painful and difficult).
The Lord faithfully used the most trying time in both our lives - the devastating brain infection that attacked our oldest son's cerebellum 3 years ago. Without the connection and relationship we built with Neurologist, Dr. Swisher during Matthew's 13 day stay at Children's Memorial Hospital Marygrace would have never come home! He helped us understand her diagnosis, the surgery she had, reviewed MRI's and CAT scans and even video clips. He was open and honest and researched the prognosis of other children around the world who had a similar condition (bilateral subdural hematoma with corrective surgery at 5 months old). He went completely out of his way to educate us and help us make an informed decision without compensation and did not reveal until his last correspondence with us that he has three adopted children. What a blessing this physician has been to us and two of our children! Both Matthew and Marygrace have made remarkable recoveries. Matthew after almost 2 years of physical therapy is a completely typical, active and even athletic 11 year old boy and Marygrace at this point appears to be on target for a two year old in every way except speech and language which is a result of her hearing loss. Please continue to pray that she will be successful with hearing aides or a candidate for a cochlear implant.
Did you see the video of the little boy we saw in China who received his implant less than a year ago and sang a song for our group. His teacher said he will go to a regular kindergarten this year-How amazing is that!!!. Well it makes me want to break out in song too,
CHORUS- "I'M AMAZED AT ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR ME, WHO AM I THAT YOU'D BLESS ME SO-I STAND IN AWE OF ALL YOUR WONDEROUS DEEDS YOU'VE DEALT WITH ME SO GRACIOUSLY."
BROKEN BY ALL THE TIMES I'VE FAILED AND THE DAYS I'VE HUNG MY HEAD IN SHAME TIME AND AGAIN I'VE DRIVEN TO MY KNEES AND I FIND YOUR GREAT COMPASSION THERE FOR ME.
CHORUS
YOU'VE BLESSED ME WITH MORE THAN I DESERVE MERCY AND LOVE AT EVERY TURN. ALL THAT YOU GIVE FLOWS OUT OF WHO YOU ARE AND I THANK YOU LORD FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
For those of you who have known us long enough these are the words to a song that was sung at our wedding ceremony 14 years ago. I cannot stop singing these words as ponder my life and how God has perfectly knit and continues to knit each and every stran of my life (good and bad) together. To know with all your heart God exists and cares about your life and is using even the good and bad to draw you nearer to Him brings true fulfillment, contentment and peace! "I'M AMAZED"
I will try to post pictures by the end of the week of our final days in China and Mary's first week at home. The jet lag has been difficult coming home, both Scott and I are exhausted (which is Not Allowed with four children)! Hopefully, we will feel back to normal soon. I cannot end this post without praising the Lord Jesus Christ for all He has done for us - We are so amazed at the work of our awesome God!!!
We do not believe for one minute that we just happened to be led to this child, that she just happened by chance to be hearing impaired (for those who don't know I am a speech pathologist who specialized in college in working with the deaf and have experience with deaf children and cochlear implants), Marygrace was not diagnosed with hearing loss until three months after we identified her as our daughter and were already well into the process of adopting her. Given Marygrace's age and obvious attachment to her caregiver in the orphanage we are amazed at how smooth her transition has been thus far and how well her personality fits perfectly into our active family. Most children would rightfullly be completely overwhelmed.
We have completely felt the Lord's hand and His leading throughout this process. There have also been hurdles to this adoption experience-just as we were getting ready to send our dossier to China, Kelley required surgery to remove an abdominal tumor (72 hours after surgery we found out it was benign-a surprize to even the surgeon who removed it). In hindsight, what a blessing it was discovered and removed and that I am fully recovered prior to bringing a two year old into our family. I am so enjoying holding, hugging, carrying and chasing after her (all which even a month or so ago would have still been painful and difficult).
The Lord faithfully used the most trying time in both our lives - the devastating brain infection that attacked our oldest son's cerebellum 3 years ago. Without the connection and relationship we built with Neurologist, Dr. Swisher during Matthew's 13 day stay at Children's Memorial Hospital Marygrace would have never come home! He helped us understand her diagnosis, the surgery she had, reviewed MRI's and CAT scans and even video clips. He was open and honest and researched the prognosis of other children around the world who had a similar condition (bilateral subdural hematoma with corrective surgery at 5 months old). He went completely out of his way to educate us and help us make an informed decision without compensation and did not reveal until his last correspondence with us that he has three adopted children. What a blessing this physician has been to us and two of our children! Both Matthew and Marygrace have made remarkable recoveries. Matthew after almost 2 years of physical therapy is a completely typical, active and even athletic 11 year old boy and Marygrace at this point appears to be on target for a two year old in every way except speech and language which is a result of her hearing loss. Please continue to pray that she will be successful with hearing aides or a candidate for a cochlear implant.
Did you see the video of the little boy we saw in China who received his implant less than a year ago and sang a song for our group. His teacher said he will go to a regular kindergarten this year-How amazing is that!!!. Well it makes me want to break out in song too,
CHORUS- "I'M AMAZED AT ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR ME, WHO AM I THAT YOU'D BLESS ME SO-I STAND IN AWE OF ALL YOUR WONDEROUS DEEDS YOU'VE DEALT WITH ME SO GRACIOUSLY."
BROKEN BY ALL THE TIMES I'VE FAILED AND THE DAYS I'VE HUNG MY HEAD IN SHAME TIME AND AGAIN I'VE DRIVEN TO MY KNEES AND I FIND YOUR GREAT COMPASSION THERE FOR ME.
CHORUS
YOU'VE BLESSED ME WITH MORE THAN I DESERVE MERCY AND LOVE AT EVERY TURN. ALL THAT YOU GIVE FLOWS OUT OF WHO YOU ARE AND I THANK YOU LORD FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
For those of you who have known us long enough these are the words to a song that was sung at our wedding ceremony 14 years ago. I cannot stop singing these words as ponder my life and how God has perfectly knit and continues to knit each and every stran of my life (good and bad) together. To know with all your heart God exists and cares about your life and is using even the good and bad to draw you nearer to Him brings true fulfillment, contentment and peace! "I'M AMAZED"
Thursday, May 24, 2007
We're Leaving Tomorrow!
This will be our last post from China we are leaving for the airport tomorrow at 5:30 A.M. (China time). The bags are packed, the shopping is done and we are anxious to come home. We can't wait to sleep in our own beds, eat American food, see our friends and show off our beautiful new daughter. Most of all we can't wait to see Matt, Josh and Andrew. We miss the three of you more than you can imagine. It won't be long now. We love you!!! See you soon,
Mom & Dad
Mom & Dad
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tuesday in Guangzhou
Hi All,
We started our day talking to the boys. Andrew's quote for the day "Mom- four more days until you come home, tomorrow three more days, then two more, then one more and then MY LIFE IS CHANGED." We have been wondering all day if he thinks this will be a good change or bad change (we're sure he has been spoiled by grandparents). Either way he may change his mind once we get home. We posted some new pictures. We hope you enjoy the many expressions of Marygrace, she is a drama queen and communicates very well!
Lots of Love,
Scott & Kelley
We started our day talking to the boys. Andrew's quote for the day "Mom- four more days until you come home, tomorrow three more days, then two more, then one more and then MY LIFE IS CHANGED." We have been wondering all day if he thinks this will be a good change or bad change (we're sure he has been spoiled by grandparents). Either way he may change his mind once we get home. We posted some new pictures. We hope you enjoy the many expressions of Marygrace, she is a drama queen and communicates very well!
Lots of Love,
Scott & Kelley
Monday, May 21, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
We're in Guangzhou!
Sorry again that it took us so long to post. We are doing really well and enjoying our trip to China very much! Marygrace is a trooper and her silly side is really coming out. She loves to play peek-a-boo, hide n seek and to be tickled. She has a hardy laugh and the boys enjoyed hearing her be silly on the phone. We left Hunan Province yesterday and flew to Guangzhou. We were sad to leave our guide, Vicky. She was wonderful and shared so much of the culture in Hunan with us. We hope we will able to bring Marygrace back when she is older for a homeland tour. Before we left Changsha we saw an ancient Chinese University, it was very beautiful and interesting.
We also had some traditional Hunan food (very spicy). Kelley liked the fried rice and Chicken soup. Scott tried turtle (yuck!). Marygrace and Kelley (not by choice)modeled for the photo studio. She loves playing dress up. They put both of us in very fancy dresses with tiara's in our hair (these type of princess pictures are popular in China). They gave us a CD with the pictures, we'll try to post some. Last night we ate at Lucy's, an American restuarant on Shaimen Island where our hotel is. Scott had a burger and Kelley grilled cheese and soup, it was a nice break from Chinese food. Marygrace liked french fries with ketchup and ate a couple bites of grilled cheese, but she likes noodles and rice best. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, which is one of the World's Nicest Hotel. It is one of the fanciest hotels we've ever seen. There are American couples with Chinese babies everywhere. It has been fun getting reconnected with the rest of our travel group that had all traveled to different provinces to meet their babies. Many our first time parents and it is so cool to witness families being born. We attended a Christian Church/ Bible Study this morning with several other families from our group. It was an amazing experience to sing and worship with fellow Christians in China. I will try and post pictures and update more frequently this week. We love and miss you all tons, especially Matt, Josh and Andrew!
We also had some traditional Hunan food (very spicy). Kelley liked the fried rice and Chicken soup. Scott tried turtle (yuck!). Marygrace and Kelley (not by choice)modeled for the photo studio. She loves playing dress up. They put both of us in very fancy dresses with tiara's in our hair (these type of princess pictures are popular in China). They gave us a CD with the pictures, we'll try to post some. Last night we ate at Lucy's, an American restuarant on Shaimen Island where our hotel is. Scott had a burger and Kelley grilled cheese and soup, it was a nice break from Chinese food. Marygrace liked french fries with ketchup and ate a couple bites of grilled cheese, but she likes noodles and rice best. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, which is one of the World's Nicest Hotel. It is one of the fanciest hotels we've ever seen. There are American couples with Chinese babies everywhere. It has been fun getting reconnected with the rest of our travel group that had all traveled to different provinces to meet their babies. Many our first time parents and it is so cool to witness families being born. We attended a Christian Church/ Bible Study this morning with several other families from our group. It was an amazing experience to sing and worship with fellow Christians in China. I will try and post pictures and update more frequently this week. We love and miss you all tons, especially Matt, Josh and Andrew!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Good morning to you & Good night for us
Hi all,
We hope you enjoy the new set of pictures. We are absolutely exhauted! Today was emotionally draining. We went to see the orphanage where Aimee Mei, one of the little girls in our group spent her first two years. It was very difficult to see. Please pray for the all the orphaned children in China. We praise the Lord for our sweet daughter! Marygrace continues to amaze us, she is a very happy and easy going baby. However, she definately prefers her dad. She lets Kelley care for her (bathing, diapers, dressing, feeding), but if Scott's around only he can hold her. She cried for the first time today since we got her because Scott was taking a picture and mom had to hold her. She loves her baba (daddy in Chinese), it's actually very sweet to see!
We love and miss you Matt, Josh and Andrew. Please be good boys!
xoxoxoxo
Mom, Dad and Mei Mei
We hope you enjoy the new set of pictures. We are absolutely exhauted! Today was emotionally draining. We went to see the orphanage where Aimee Mei, one of the little girls in our group spent her first two years. It was very difficult to see. Please pray for the all the orphaned children in China. We praise the Lord for our sweet daughter! Marygrace continues to amaze us, she is a very happy and easy going baby. However, she definately prefers her dad. She lets Kelley care for her (bathing, diapers, dressing, feeding), but if Scott's around only he can hold her. She cried for the first time today since we got her because Scott was taking a picture and mom had to hold her. She loves her baba (daddy in Chinese), it's actually very sweet to see!
We love and miss you Matt, Josh and Andrew. Please be good boys!
xoxoxoxo
Mom, Dad and Mei Mei
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Marygrace The Model!
We aren't too proud, but we took our daughter to have professional pictures here in Changsha and they asked us to come back Friday. They want to take more pictures for their store. The photography studio is a small chain here and she will be the studio's new model! So even when we leave, Marygrace's photos will remain here. Sorry we could not post yesterday the internet was not working. Thank you to all who have left us a comment, we love to read them! Miss Marygrace is absolutely amazing! She appears totally at ease with Scott and I (now). Until yesterday she was a total daddy's girl! She has no problems communicating with us, she points to what she wants. She has already used the sign for "more" and has learned to blow kisses. She is a very social and happy little girl. We love to hear her giggle, which she does often. We know she hears some loud noises and it's obvious she is very smart. Don't worry Grandpa Ollie, you now have six smart grandchildren!!! Marygrace is sleeping through the night and taking a 2-3 hour nap, eating tons (like dad), wearing pull-ups and using a mini squatty potty. She loves congee, fried rice, watermelon, apples, noodles and McDonald's french fries (yes, Scott risked his life taking a taxi to McDonald's). The drivers here are the craziest we have ever seen!!! Well it's a good thing this is not a Christmas letter, because we know that we are bragging a little too much! Hope you don't mind. We can't wait to introduce you all to the newest Seafield. We'll try and post pictures tomorrow. We miss you all!
Monday, May 14, 2007
We have "Mei Mei" !!!
Matt, Josh and Andrew,
We have Mei Mei (little sister in Chinese). She is more perfect and precious than we all could have ever imagined. Dad and I keep saying she is absolutely the perfect addition to our family! God is so Good!!! Other than being frightened and having some separation anxiety from her Aunties she has been doing great all day. She will now come to both of us (initially just Scott), but definately prefers daddy. This is definately the best Birthday and gift dad has ever had. We love you all tons and appreciate everyone's prayers. Happy belated Mother's Day everyone!!!
Lots of Love,
Mom & Dad
We have Mei Mei (little sister in Chinese). She is more perfect and precious than we all could have ever imagined. Dad and I keep saying she is absolutely the perfect addition to our family! God is so Good!!! Other than being frightened and having some separation anxiety from her Aunties she has been doing great all day. She will now come to both of us (initially just Scott), but definately prefers daddy. This is definately the best Birthday and gift dad has ever had. We love you all tons and appreciate everyone's prayers. Happy belated Mother's Day everyone!!!
Lots of Love,
Mom & Dad
Sunday, May 13, 2007
We made it to Changsha!
We are in the same city as Marygrace. She made the 5-6 hour bus ride from her orphanage today. We will meet her tomorrow at 9:30 A.M. so it will still be Mother's Day in the states. We are excited but nervous and very very tired. Please pray for us, we really need a good nights sleep, because who knows what tomorrow will bring. We will post pictures as soon as we can! Matt, Josh & Andrew we will hold your little mei mei soon. We love and miss you guys tons! Mom & Dad
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Hi all, sorry it's taken us so long to post. We don't have our own computer and it has not been that convenient to post here! The last two days have been very busy, but we have seen lots of sights in Beijing. One of the highlights, yesterday was our guide took us to the Hutong village in Beijing where we toured a school, that just happened to be an oral deaf school. We both felt like this was not just a coincidence. At the school we met two beautiful children-a boy and a girl that had cochlear implants! They were adorable and spoke like any other child their age. The little boy even sang our group a little song. We will post this later when we can download it to you.
Kelley and I really appreciate all of your comments. Please feel free to keep them coming. We have had trouble at times responding to them and even viewing them because of the computer situation. We will get it together soon we hope! Tomorrow we fly to the province where Marygrace lives(Hunan) and we will meet her the following day!!!
Hi to the boys and grandparents. We love you guys and can't wait to see our little girl and show her to all of you. We will catch you all later.
Love,
Scott and Kelley
Kelley and I really appreciate all of your comments. Please feel free to keep them coming. We have had trouble at times responding to them and even viewing them because of the computer situation. We will get it together soon we hope! Tomorrow we fly to the province where Marygrace lives(Hunan) and we will meet her the following day!!!
Hi to the boys and grandparents. We love you guys and can't wait to see our little girl and show her to all of you. We will catch you all later.
Love,
Scott and Kelley
Thursday, May 10, 2007
We're Here!
Well we made it to Beijing. It is 7:40 A.M. (13 hour ahead) here on May 11. We will be doing some sightseeing with other people adopting through Children's Hope (CHI). We met a nice couple from Lexington, Kentucky who are adopting their first child. They were on our flight and it was nice to have company through customs, etc. We have a cell phone and Matthew has already called us, everything is fine he was just excited to tell us a couple of things. We love you boys and take good care of grandma & grandpa and Mingy Sue!I'll try and post pictures of our sightseeing adventures tonight. Bye for now.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
We're leaving tomorrow!
We're still packing and hoping we've covered everything. Please pray for the boys and grandparents as we travel, 16 days seems like a very long time! Also, pray for our safety and little Marygrace, whose whole world is about to be turned upside down.
We would love to hear your comments and have them for Marygrace to read when she is older. To leave a comment, just click on comments below our post and leave your message. If you choose other or anonymous you do not need a password or account. Just press publish message and you're done!
We would love to hear your comments and have them for Marygrace to read when she is older. To leave a comment, just click on comments below our post and leave your message. If you choose other or anonymous you do not need a password or account. Just press publish message and you're done!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
