Home Sweet Home!

We are HOME and so, so happy to be here!  After about 30 hours of straight travel, we made it back to Dulles and finally good ol' 7989 Old Montgomery Rd. around 10 pm Wednesday night.  I think we all finally went to sleep around 3 am!  Sleeping in my own bed never felt so good!!!  And the other thing that amazed me at first was how vivid all the colors seemed.  China is so gray that even when the sun was shining there was a gray haze all around us, and the interior of the hotels was very gray or beige, so my green countertops, yellow kitchen, and the beautiful bright blue sunny skies with fluffy white clouds took on a new brilliance for me.  What a wonder is God's creation!  I am so thankful for the colors that surround me on a daily basis that I have so taken for granted!

Lucy Rui Yuan is doing great overall although life at home has not been easy these first few days.  She very much enjoyed meeting our puppy Pretzel and is very taken with her, playing with her endlessly but needing lots of watching as she can get kind of rough (Lucy, not the puppy!) and can only take so much puppy licking and jumping before needing a break.  She also loves all her "ge ges" (brothers) and most of the time her "jie jie" (sister) and most especially her "ba ba" (daddy).  However her "ma ma" she is not so happy with upon being at home.  She has seemed almost angry with me, often pushing me away and shaking her little hand at me to back off if I come too close.  Although not unexpected as we had heard that children from foster care can have issues like this at first, it has been painful for me.  While we were in China, she was stuck with me and had no choice but to allow me to help her and comfort her.  With Daddy at hand here at home, she wants him and only him for the most part, especially if she is upset or needing comfort.  The Mommy in me so longs to do that for her, and it is so difficult to be rejected in this way.  I am having to really rely on God and His timing, giving her the space and time she needs to adjust to this new, foreign Mama that doesn't speak her language or quite understand her needs like her China Mama.  And God is so faithful to give me glimpses of hope just when I feel at my lowest...yesterday she reached out to give me a little kiss and today in church when I got up to take Christopher his name tag she wanted to go with me rather than stay in church with Stan.  And I am so grateful that she is bonding so well to her daddy; that is a joy to behold! 

Last night we celebrated Patrick's birthday which we missed doing as a family because of the China trip, and the cake was a big hit.  Most fun was smearing icing on everyone's  face as that is done in China to the birthday child for good luck.  Lucy took great delight in showing us all exactly how this is done :)

I just want to thank everyone so much for all the prayers and love and support you have shown to our family over these  past couple of weeks!  Knowing that so many were (and are) praying for us has buoyed our spirits and helped us persevere when the going seemed really tough!  We are so thankful to all of you, and first and foremost, to our great God who holds each one of us in the palm of His hand!

Praise the Lord! They Made It To Beijing

It sounds like quite the experience but they made it to Beijing.  At one point they thought that they were going to have to split up on 2 different flights (Christina and Lucy on one and Peter and Catherine on another). However, after a run to catch a flight, they all flew together and made it to Beijing in time to catch their flight home as planned. 

Now I can sleep,
Stan

Meanwhile Back at Home...

It was with much thought and prayer and hand wringing and anguish and more prayer that we decided that Christina, Peter and Catherine should go on to China to bring Lucy Rui Yuan home.  We at home would certainly miss having the China experience and being there for the grand event.  It was just too darn expensive for us all to go on such short notice.  I was determined that being at home with Patrick and Christopher would be filled with our own adventures.  It would be a time to do some things that we don’t usually do.  A time to stretch out a bit.  I had music going all day when we were at home, even broke out my turntable to spin a few LP's.  We went mini-golfing (goofing), hiking / swimming at Patapsco, did a lot of grilling (experimenting with grilling vegies) and found some dragon fruit, went fishing with Pop-pop and had a blast, and had a little birthday celebration for Patrick (to be continued when mommy and the gang get back).
 


Air and Space Museum



Mini-Golf

Meeting Their New Little Sister Over Skype

Swimming at Patapsco State Park

Good Eats!

Boating / Fishing With Pop-pop

Patrick Catches One

The Guys w/ Pop-pop

Happy Birthday Patrick

Turntables, Once So Common, Now Spark Much Curiosity

Please Pray For Flight Home

While I was Skyping with Christina in China, she got a call from her guide.  The flight from Guangzhou to Beijing was CANCELED.  Now instead of getting to the airport by 6:00am, they are going to get there at 5:00am to try to get on some flight to Beijing.

Please pray that God would provide them passage to Beijing and bring them safely home on-time.

Thank you, Stan

A Good Day :)

Lucy (Ruiyuan) kissed her mommy for the first time.  She is also hugging mommy more lately.

Final Day in China!!!

 

We are almost there!  Today is our final day in China, and we are so excited to be going home soon!  After a leisurely breakfast (my last for awhile with someone bringing me my coffee:), we wandered out in the gardens to enjoy our last steamy morning in Guangzhou.  I made my reluctant photographer take a few pictures in the hotel gardens; I only wish he would have let me take some pictures of him.  Peter, like all of us, is feeling very done with this trip; but it is my prayer that we can enjoy these last moments together making memories and finish strong!  Our plan today is just to hang out at the beautiful pool and go to bed early as we have to be up for an extremely early morning checkout time of 5:45 am.  Today we all slept in until almost 8, so I fear we will have a rough time getting up.  We have MANY hours ahead of us of idle flying and waiting, so I am hoping at least the girls may sleep through a lot of the trip home.  We have an eight hour layover in Beijing before boarding our 14 hour flight home to Dulles; but the good news is it is a direct flight and when we step off the plane in Dulles we are HOME and Lucy Rui Yuan is an American citizen!  Please continue to pray for my health, safe travels, and smooth transitions throughout our travels (from airplanes to customs and immigration).  Again, I can't tell you how blessed I feel by all your prayers and thoughts!  Knowing people are thinking about and praying for us has truly kept me going these last few days especially.  Can't wait to post again from Ellicott City!!!

 

 



Consulate and countdown to HOME!!!

Today marks our 11th day since leaving home and we are all really feeling it!  At 8:30 this morning I took a pledge in front of an officer of the US Consulate in Guangzhou...the final important step in receiving Lucy's Visa to enter the US and become an American citizen upon entering the country at Dulles Airport.  Hallelujah, we will be on our way in just one more day after today!  These last couple of days have been the absolute hardest.  I have come down with some strange rash which is most likely an allergic reaction to something...who knows what!  It looks horrible, and is covering about 70% of my body and is pretty uncomfortable and itchy.  I have bought what I think is cortisone cream but it is not doing a whole lot.  The kids are all struggling as we all just want to be HOME!  Lucy gets SO frustrated with us that she can't communicate her needs/wants.  Last night we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and finally got her some rice and she was ecstatic!  I have never seen anyone shovel rice in their mouth as quickly as this child did!  Even when she is at her worst, she has us all laughing in the next minute with her antics.  Talking to Stan last night, she actually said "I love you" followed by "Bye, bye, Baba!"  Too sweet!  Can't wait to get her home and acclimated to her new home.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support!  I have not been able to post to Facebook myself, but I have been receiving your comments and thoughts and they are really keeping me going!  This is from my devotional today:  "Come to me when you are weak and weary.  Rest snugly in my everlasting arms.  Accept yourself in your weariness, knowing that I understand how difficult your journey has been."  I am SO grateful to have a God that understands and is with me!!!  And also for family and friends :)



Some Pictures/Waiting in Guangzhou



Seems like we've been here forever and I can't tell you how much I miss Stan and the boys!  We are sort of on our own for the weekend as we wait for our consulate appointment on Monday to finalize the Visa stuff.  I am fighting a jealous spirit as I have met several families that have guides shuttling them around the area, and we are pretty much left on our own until Monday.  We are trying to plan a couple things, but I have to say I feel a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of navigating taxis and tourist areas with a reluctant teen and two little girls.  "Lucy" is doing very well over all but is still not too sure about this new, weird Mama and can be a handful.  She is very independent and does not like to hold my hand or stay really close to me, so I worry about losing her!  Please pray that these next couple of days pass quickly so that we can get HOME!

On a positive note the TB test came back negative so no x-ray was needed, and there will be nothing medical holding us up.

 

Finally, today (actually tomorrow in the US) is Patrick's 12th birthday!  Happy Birthday to my amazing, sweet boy....I miss you like crazy!!!!!

 

 

 Waiting at the airport in Hefei

 

 



 The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou

 

On to Guangzhou!

Yesterday we finished up some paperwork in Hefei and caught an evening flight to Guangzhou.  We were all glad to leave a very hot, dirty city with absolutely no Americans!  I was sad to not see the orphanage where our daughter spent her first four years, but she has had a little bit of trouble accepting her new situation, mostly due to the language barrier, so our guide (and I agreed) encouraged us not to visit as it may be very traumatic for her.  She is finding it very frustrating to have a Mama that can't communicate with her or understand her needs when she voices them.  She is very talkative and chatters away in Chinese constantly!  Praying that we can bridge this gap quickly!  It has brought me to tears several times when she pushes me away in frustration.  I feel her pain and so long to be able to comfort, encourage, and just understand her.

After arriving at the airport in plenty of time, we were dismayed to find that our 7 pm flight was delayed almost 2 hours!  WAY too much time in the airport with hungry, tired kids.  And then after finally boarding and getting underway they were so sound asleep when our dinners finally came that I couldn't wake them to eat.  Thankfully the flight attendant kindly let me take them off the plane which normally isn't allowed.  Our guide, Grace ( such an appropriate name to encourage me in a hard moment) met us at the airport and we checked into our new hotel around midnight.  We were totally blown away by the opulence of our new digs!  I am too tired to describe it in detail but something along the lines of the Taj Mahal comes to mind!  We will try to post pictures later.  By the time we all got to bed it was after 1:30 am.  This morning on our way to the breakfast buffet we ran into a family who adopted a little one from our daughter's class in the orphanage that we had connected with on Facebook.  What an amazing, sweet moment!  I felt like bursting into tears when I heard someone calling my name!  We hugged and got a cute picture of our girls together.  Thank you Lord for these special moments just when I'm not sure I can keep going here on my own.  Unfortunately they are flying out today, but hopefully we can connect in the states at some point at home in America.  After a fortifying breakfast, we completed her medical exam in record time, and the rest of our day is free to relax which we really need to recover a bit.  Please pray that her TB test comes back negative because if it is positive we could be stuck here another week or more.

Thank you again for all the prayers and wonderful comments on FB.  I finally got to read them this morning since we have decent internet for the first time, and I feel so blessed by all your love and support from home!  I wish you could all hear the music in the background of lots of laughter as the girls tease and play with Peter!  So precious!!!!



Day Two: Seeing God's Hand!

So this is our full second day with little "Lucy" Rui Yuan and all things considered,everything is going very well.  I am finding it challenging here without Stan (as well as a little lonely despite being in the company of three of my amazing children!)  The kids need constant attention and care not to mention still feeling incredibly jet-lagged, sleep-deprived, and just completely out of my element.  There are so many emotions and feelings that I would love to process and share more fully with everyone but for now it has to be enough to just try to convey some of the "God moments," mostly through the pictures, that are happening all around me and that I am trying to focus on!.  Rui Yuan seems every bit a Krol:  she loved the pool (big thank you to big bro Peter for going in with the girls), even doing a semblance of a freestyle!!!, she adores ALL screens (especially enamored with the ipad and we've had a couple meltdowns when I had to take it away), and she definitely has a mind of her own (very opinionated about everything!)  She LOVES her big brother , Peter, often lifting her arms up for him to carry her...this melts my heart EVERY time!  She is so bright and curious and constantly chatting away to us in Chinese.  Occasionally Peter understands a word or two, and some things are universal like "NO" and "Up."

Yesterday the adoption was official, and I received the all important red book with the official Chinese stamp and our picture.  Much to my surprise, they also gave me a "Life Book" with pictures chronicling her time in the orphanage!  It is so bittersweet to see our sweet daughter growing up without us, but also a beautiful keepsake of her heritage which will be so special to her as she grows up.  

Today we head to Guangzhou for the last leg of our journey to complete her Visa at the US Embassy.  We will be there one week and praying the time goes fast; however, I also don't want to wish it away.  Please pray that we can all savor these moments of our great God at work even in the difficult times both here in China and at home.

 

 

Gotcha' Day

Welcome Lucy Rui Yuan to our family!!!!!

After a long, hard journey to Hefei it was finally time to meet our new daughter!  She was waiting for us at the Adoption Registration office wearing the outfit we had sent her in a package and carrying a princess backpack.  Catherine was wearing a matching outfit and it was a priceless moment as the two sisters met and hugged.  She was shy but happy to meet us and immediately began pulling things out of her backpack.  First came the photo album and lots of pointing and exclaiming as she matched each of us with our pictures in the album.  Next came snacks....and lots of them!  She immediately wanted to share them them all with us.  She loved the musical toy we brought her, mesmerized by the lights and sounds.  She wasn't so sure about the "wawa" we had given her but the sunglasses were a big hit!

All went very well until nap time when she realized that she might be stuck with these funny looking people for longer than she imagined!  After lots of tears, throwing up, and sitting by the door with backpack on trying to escape, she settled down.  The magna doodle I bought last minute was the life saver!  She was totally distracted drawing pictures and stamping shapes.

We were able to skype with the boys back home and it was a special moment when Daddy was able to meet her for the first time!  We are all so missing being together as a family but grateful for the technology that lets us be together a little, anyway!

She woke up a little unsure today but is now all smiles as she walks around the room exclaiming, pointing, and playing!  Today we register her adoption and then tomorrow on to Guanzhou to get her visa and passport.  Hope to blog again soon!  Thanks for your prayers for sleep...I finally was able to get a few hours last night.  God is ever present with us and we are amazed at His blessings!

Two Days 'til China!!!

I can't believe that we are leaving in two short days!  I should really be packing instead of on the computer, but I wanted to record the vents of the last few days so I don't forget and also to update everyone on a few things.  God is SO amazing and SO good!  Just a few days  ago we connected with someone through Stan's work (and a homeschool forum that I am on for our curriculum) that has adopted several children from China, two from Lucy's province.  She connected us to a Facebook group for Hefei Adoptions, and we have been able to connect with several families that are in the process of adopting from the same orphanage where our little girl lives!  We have seen her multiple times in pictures that people have shared of their adoptions/orphanage tours from several months ago as well as from a family that is there now!  Wow!!!  To see her in all these pictures is so amazing, and it always brings tears to my eyes!  She is such a sweetie and has such a wistful look on her face  looking on...is she dreaming of her own family?  We sent her a photo album recently and pray that she has been looking through it and is getting excited about going home to her forever family soon.  I  can't describe how incredible it is to love someone so much that we've never met, but we know in our hearts is our little girl!

As our trip approaches so quickly, I would ask that you pray for peace for all of us and that Christ's love would show through in all that we do and say.  We have had some hurdles come up that have left us feeling somewhat stressed and frazzled.  One of the biggest was deciding who of us would travel as we began to try to make reservations with only about a week's notice to date of departure, and we realized very quickly it would just be too cost-prohibitive to take everyone again.  After much agonizing we decided that Peter (who is 15 now and will be our photographer/videographer/general handy guy), and Catherine (6, who would not be left behind to go get her new sister) will go with me (I'm not telling how old I am!) while Stan stays home with Patrick and Christopher.  Much thought and prayer went into this decision, and we truly feel the Lord leading us ; but it is hard to let go of our original dream and plan to experience this huge family event together.  It is a huge stretch for both Stan and I as we are pushed into unfamiliar, daunting territory...Stan trusting God to protect his family and for myself to travel without him (I really am a huge homebody) and leave my other kiddos behind (which I have never done before)!  BUT...God is with us, leading us, holding our hand every step of the way!   (Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 28:20b)

See you soon, little "Lucy" Rui Yuan!  We love you so, so much!

Lucy playing with a friend

 

 



 

Lucy

 

 



 

Lucy enjoying cake  from a birthday party!

 

A New Little Sister

As many of you know already, the Krol family is adding another little Chinese princess to our clan!  Lucy Rui Yuan Krol will come home very soon from Heifei City, China...we anticipate travel within a couple of weeks as we just received TA (Travel Approval for those of you unfamiliar with the adoption lingo!).  Unfortunately, the US Consulate has been closed down for a couple of weeks while they relocate offices in Guanzhou so we are unable to make our embassy appointment yet which means we don't know our exact dates of travel.  So close but not quite there yet!  Seems like that is the way this whole adoption has gone, but praise God, it also seems that we have flown ahead of the curve despite all the frequent setbacks. 

Our new daughter is almost five years old (in October) and another adorable sweetheart!  She is described as very sensitive and loving to all the other children in the orphanage.  Although she has spina bifida and hydrocephalus, she appears to be quite healthy and happy.  We are all going to travel to bring her home and can't wait to meet her!!!  We are praying she likes purple like her big sis because the girls now have a VERY purple room :)  We covet your prayers as we prepare to leave the country and embark on another amazing journey as a family to adopt!  We are so grateful to the Lord for His abundant blessings!  Hope to post here often in the days to come to share this wonderful experience with our family and friends...(in all my spare time! LOL)

                                               "Lucy" Rui Yuan

                                               The "purplicious"  room!

 

Big Sis hugging little sis

(sent this picture to her in the orphanage)

Surgery and Home

I am so sorry for the time it took me to get around to posting this!  I found it easy and convenient in the hospital to post updates on facebook and sort of let blogging slide.  As most of you know Catherine had surgery Friday June 7th at Johns Hopkins to lengthen the rod in her rib cage which is supposed to spread her thoracic cavity to accomodate her lung growth.  It was a LONG day as we didn't have to arrive until 11 am (nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before, of course!) and they didn;t take her to surgery until 2:30 pm that afternoon!  Ugghhh!  She was in great spirits despite being very hungry and thirsty, joking with the nurses and doctors and giving lots of toothless grins!  Surgery went well, although it was a bit more involved than we had originally thought it would be; they installed a second rod to stabilize the first as well as cut through several ribs which had re-fused.  By 6:30 pm she was in recovery and asking for juice, looking much more herself than I remember after her first two surgeries.  What a blessing!  Over the next 24 hours, we were able to wean her from the morphine pump and get her on oral codeine so she could actually go home.  Another HUGE blessing that she only had to spend one night in the hospital!  She has been home several days now, and despite some rough moments, she has done extremely well for the most part!  We cannot thank our friends and family enough for all their prayers and positive thoughts which have been sent our way!