John:14:18

I will not leave you as orphans. I will come for you...John 14:18
This is a sweet reminiscence of our adoption journey to our son.
Showing posts with label hope blossoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hope blossoms. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Beauty from Ashes, gotcha baby girl.

We woke up really early Monday Morning, maybe 4 am and that was it. There was no way we were going back to sleep. The excitement of getting our girl combined with jet lag was just too much. 

We were ready early and had breakfast done and over with. 

We had to kill many many hours! Many many hours until we could meet her at 2:00 pm. After breakfast, We hung out in the beautiful Garden the hotel has. 
It really is a cool thing. 
Then we walked around the garden doing some window shopping. 

I'm having a hard time remembering what all we did because it just seemed so obsolete for what happened later that day. 

We walked with our guide Judy to Aeon's. It's a two level grocery store.  We  got diapers, baby milk and snacks, and other supplies. 
The driver picked us up there and we were on our way to go get our girl! 

Can I tell you? That drive was so stinking long! Traffic was bad and gosh it just seemed like for-ev-er! 

It's such a surreal feeling - knowing your meeting you child that day. Just like I had worried with Chu, I worried I wouldn't feel enough when we finally met her. 
We Finally got there and they took us up an elevator. 


We were late and the room was full of families. The feelings in that room are like walking into a brick wall. So overwhelming. There were already families with babies that were crying. It's so breathtaking beautiful to watch an orphan become a beloved son or daughter. At the same time, it's heartbreaking to see how really scared each child is. The adoption community has a saying "beauty from ashes" 
Isn't that the truth. There's so much loss for her. First she lost lost her birth mom (I promise you her soal was very aware of that loss even at a minutes old) and now she's experience loss again. 

Just minutes after we were there we saw a beautiful reunion. It was a little girl that had been hosted in the states. Her host family had adopted her. That "gotcha" was all happy tears and I lost it right then! 

We watched a few more families unite with tiny ones and still know baby girl. 
The girls waiting for their sister. 
Then suddenly, she past through the room. 
It was so fast we didn't get a picture. 
Again it seemed like forever before they brought her back out. 

When they finally did she was already upset and crying. She did look right at us as we walked towards her. 

I'm sure we looked familiar but super scary. 

She was handed to Shane first. She screamed poor girl and poor Shane.  She probably had only seen one other man her whole life. 
This picture breaks my heart. Can you imagine? Your whole world changing in an instant. All that you have is the clothes that your wearing? 
Poor sweet angel. 

It wasn't long until I took her and then she quieted down but didn't stop fussing. She wouldn't look at me. Anywhere but at me. It was hours before she made eye contact. 


She was hot and sweaty. She had a bad heat rash on most of her body. The skin around her neck was open and oozing. 
We asked our guide if we were done and could go. We needed out of the hot room with crying babies. 
 

She fussed all the way back. She throws herself back when she's mad and she is quite strong. I worry I'll drop her when she does that. 

We went up to our room. She wanted me to hold her but didn't want me too. She would cry if I put her down and she'd reach back up for me. Then cry if I held her.  At one point she decided I could hold her but only if she held my face, specifically my nose, right where she wanted it. 😂
 
She wanted and still wants to stand, the thing is, she has no balance. She's very wobbly. She can't even stand holding one handed. We have to hold  both her arms and honestly we just can't always do that so it makes her mad.  
I'm sure that she went straight from the crib to a walker every day and that's why she wants to be straight. 
She can sit and roll but she cannot crawl.  We will be working on that. Crawling is so important. 

I finally stripped her sweaty dress off and bathed her. She hated it. 
But after I rubbed coconut oil on all her sores and dressed her she started to settle a bit. 
She had that sucker for hours just like Chu had his. 
That's when we found a few curls. We will see how curly it really is as it grows. 
But this hair wants to curl backwards. Lol 
We've heard Asian cupey doll and Asian Gerber baby a few times because of that curl. 

Later, I layed beside her as she went to sleep and that's how we closed the day. 

Precious girl, I promise to try my hardest to make up for so much loss. Together we will find the beauty. 
We love you. 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Hope Blossoms


We are so super excited to announce our new daughter. 


              Iris MeiXiao Hua Atwood
We will call her Iris Mei. It will be a double barrel name like Mary Jane or Mary Kate. 
As I'm sure you ALL know naming this sweet girl has been a big deal. 

We wanted her name to be perfect and there were so many things to debate. 

To put an English flower name or to not. To keep her original Chinese name or to not. 

I have prayed and cried over her name. I hope she will know it's because I love her dearly and wanted her name to make her life easy and beautiful.  

Parts of her name she's had from the start. Her Chinese name is Xiao Xiao. 
Pronounced show show. (Rhymes with cow) It means teeny tiny. I'm sure she was named this because she was a 2 pound premie.  This part of her name was special to our family because months before we found Iris Mei our Lydia kept telling us that her "teeny tiny" friend was in China and we needed to go get her. 

Mei (may) was a name I loved right from the start because it crossed both English and Chinese worlds. But mostly,  my great aunt Mae was very loved in our family. Mae in English means Pearl. Do you remember the story of when we were trying to decide weather to adopt her? My friend said, "she is your Pearl in your crown." 

Mei Xiao or Xiao Mei in certain characters means little plum blossom.  Plum blossoms are a big deal in China. They are often painted. I think they are often mistaken for cherry blossoms but cherry blossoms are a Japanese symbol. The Chinese love plum blossoms because they bloom when there's still snow on the trees. They survive through hardships. They are a symbol of hope.  
 
Mei Xiao Hua (Hua is pronounced wu-ah) means "beautiful little blossom" 

Hope blossoms. 

We almost left it just that Mei Xiao Hua but it just seems like it was missing something. 

For months we've debated English names both flower and not. In fact, Iris had been chosen then x-nayed off the list. 

Last night and really early this morning at 4 when we were all awake we went through every name we could think of. 
It was easy to see that certain names just we'rent HER! They didn't seem "bright" enough! I kept coming back to Iris and how colorful and beautiful. 

That's how this girl is! Bright, colorful, and beautiful. Cheesy cheesy cheesy..I know... But it just fit the spirit we can see in her eyes. 
Ironically, just about the time we named her one of my friends said, "what about Brighton"  My friend could see it too, baby girl. Your bright spirit. Plus, I love growing Iris and they remind me of my grandmas. 
Edited to add:  A few days after coming home I looked up what Iris symbolize and  Guess what? They are also a symbol of hope! Along with faith and wisdom. 
So there you have it. 
You were named baby girl at 4 in the morning by your new mama and baba who love you dearly. 
We were asked today by the Chinese  government if we "accepted" you and if we were "satisfied" by you. 

Are you kidding me? Yes! We accept her! We will never abandon her! 
She is lovely, our Iris Mei. 



Thursday, September 10, 2015

We are coming!





As we drive away from our little home, It's such a bittersweet feeling. 
We're super excited to get our sweet girl home and super bummed to be leaving our loved ones. Leaving the flock to get the one isn't easy.  ðŸ˜¢ 

I snapped this picture this morning as I was getting Q off to school. 
Lydia has a bug and I hate leaving her sick. 
Chu had nightmares in the night and he ended up in our bed. His happy face hides so much.

Praying for their little hearts and that they'll forgive us for leaving and accept there new Mei Mei (sister) easily. I pray they'll quickly become the trio troublemakers. 😜


It's just as hard to leave this guy! It doesn't get easier just cause they are older. 



We've had quite a few obsticales this week. Satan DOES NOT want this baby girl to come home! He has thrown quite a few things our way.  We had a water leak in our crawl space and Shane's been sick just to name a few... 

We had a very similar week right before we committed to adopting her. Cows dying, cars breaking down, chickens being killed by the neighbor dogs. 

I think she must be pretty special for him to be trying so hard to stop us.

He will not prevail!

We have God on our side. She will come come! 

And we are on our way! 
Hang on precious! Mommy and Daddy are coming!