Saturday, December 29, 2007

Our first Christmas with Sam


We had a wonderful Christmas with Sam. He was such a trooper! Sunday we were invited to Aunt Sherry's and Uncle Pat's. Monday we traveled to Clanton to visit with family and then ended the day at Aunt Becky's and Uncle Richard's. Christmas morning we traveled to DeFuniak Springs to visit with Nick's family. Sam's favorite part was the food. He loved the peas, butterbeans, and sweet potatoe casserole!! He got to meet lots of friends and family and was very busy playing with his new toys. We are learning more about Sam each day. He has a wonderful sense of humor and he is a very strong willed individual which we feel will help him be successful later in life. He enjoys laughing and he continues to be very loving and compassionate. Glory goes to God for bringing this child into our lives!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

First Week at Home

Sam and his MiMi

This is the way we brush our teeth

Peek-a-boo

Mama and Sam are very glad to be home after 30 hours of traveling



Meeting Nai-Nai and Pop Pop for the first time!



So glad to see these loving and friendly faces at the airport!


We have had severa firsts this week and lots of doctor's appointments. Sam brushed his teeth for the first time, he attended his first Christmas party, and he went to church where he stayed in the nursery. They said he got upset one time, but they walked him around and looked at the fish aquarium and he calmed down. He was asleep when we picked him up. He opened his arms wide and came running to us as soon as he opened his eyes. Sam does not like visiting the doctor's office (who does??) but so far he has gotten good medical reports. We are learning that Sam is very strong willed and impatient!! He is a happy baby... laughing and smiling very frequently. He loves music and he also loves to eat. He is learning new things everyday and we are amazed how quick he picks up on things. He is saying DaDa, Mama, Cat, Bite (to eat), and he waves bye-bye. He also loves to play peek-a-boo. Sam is a true blessing. All glory to God for this child.






Tuesday, December 11, 2007

We're Home and Update on Sam's Heart






















We apologize for not posting sooner! The jet lag has been pretty rough and we have been resting and letting Sam adjust to his new home. We were thrilled when we arrived and about 30 dear friends and family were at the airport to greet us. It really meant the world to us to see so many lovely and friendly faces!!






Sam has been doing wonderful considering everything he has been through. He was having trouble sleeping at first, but we adjusted our sleeping arrangements and he is now doing very well. We also visited the Pediatric Cardiologist this morning and he says that the Chinese doctors did a very good job patching the hole in Sam's heart. He says everything looks great and he does not need to see Sam for another year. Praise the Lord!! Another answered prayer!!






We will post again very soon. This is Sam's story and we will post every week to update everyone on his progress.






Thank you all for following our journey.. and we are especially thankful for all of your prayers!






Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Coming Home

Hello everyone!
Thanks for following our journey.
We are scheduled to land in montgomery December 6th at 8:40pm on Northwest Flight 5904
Susan

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Last Day in Beautiful Guangzhou







Today was a free day for us. We had no appointments.. we just had to wait by the phone for an hour and a half just in case the consulate's office had any questions for us while reviewing our file. While we waited we went and visited with Martha and Isabell Gallahue. Sam loves the ladies and he is so sweet to Isabell.. he freely gives kisses to all the Gallahue women!! Later, Nick stayed with Sam in the room while I went shopping on the island. We stopped at Starbucks for a snack. The weather in Guangzhou has been perfect during our visit. Shamian Island is so nice. It has alot of greenery and parks. It has been sunny and the weather in the upper 70's. I was gone for about 4 hours and I really started missing Sam (and Nick too). I got a huge blessing when I returned. Sam was playing and when he saw me walk through the door he came running toward me, squealing with delight with his arms wide open. He jumped in my arms and gave me several kisses!! Gosh, did it melt my heart!!! This evening we ventured back out to pizza hut where Sam ate his first spagetti. So far he likes all the food he has tried. We are also sending pictures of his bath this evening. He really enjoys the water now and likes to put his face under the facet. I think he is going to be a great swimmer! Tomorrow we have our swearing in ceremony at the U.S. Consulate's Office at 2:30pm. After that the whole group is going to eat at Lucy's again for our last meal in China. We leave bright and early Thursday morning (5am) for the airport. We cannot believe that our time here is almost over. We are looking forward to starting our lives with Sam in Alabama. We know he is going to love everyone. I do not know if I will get a chance to post tomorrow. If not, we will see all of you once we get home. Thanks for joining us on this amazing journey to our precious son.

One Week Ago Today






Sam was placed in our arms one week ago today! It is true what they say about time flying when they are babies. We started the day by getting our medical exams. Sam was not happy about it at all. There were three stations during the exam. The first one was a doctor who examined him all over and listened to his heart. He felt for hernia's and checked out his limbs. The other station Sam was weighed and measured. He had gained 1 pound in a week (we were not surprised). The last station was the ENT doctor. We are glad to report that all three babies passed with flying colors. After the exam we got on the bus and went to the Jade Market. After that we had lunch then visited the Guangzhou zoo. Sam loved looking at all the animals. The panda bear was asleep so we could not get a good look at him. Sam continues to win everyone's hearts. He has so much personality and is so loving. He is quiet the lady's man!! Tomorrow we have a free day except we have to hang around the phone from 11am-12:30pm while Pat goes to the Consulate's office with all our paperwork. Wednesday is our swearing in ceremony. Thursday we come home!! Our flight leaves around 8:00am Thursday morning (China time.. 6pm Wednesday night in Alabama). Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Montgomery Thursday evening at 8:40 (if nothing is delayed). I cannot wait for everyone to meet Sam! Enjoy the pictures of the day!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Giving Thanks









We started the day by walking back over to Shamian Island to the White Swan Hotel. Pat had arranged a Service of Thanksgiving for Adoption. It was a real sweet service where we thanked our Heavenly Father for our precious children. This is one of the prayers: "May God, the Father of all, bless our child Samuel and we who have given to him our family name. May we live together in love and affection through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." After the service we took our famous "red couch" photos. It is a tradition for all the adoptive families to take pictures of their babies on the red couch. It was quiet amusing trying to get all of them to look at the camera at one time. The White Swan is a beautiful hotel with a large waterfall. It is really nice all decorated for Christmas. After the Thanksgiving service we walked a block to a Church of Christ. They have two services one in Chinese and the other in English. Both services were packed!! Praise God. We met a young chinese lady who was sitting in front of us. Her english was excellent. She actually teaches english at a local University. Anyway, she has been to Montgomery and she spoke at First Baptist Church (isn't it a small world??) She works for Campus Crusades but she says in China they cannot tell anyone it is Campus Crusades.. they call it Human Resources. The church was really nice and they sang lots of Christmas songs. Sam got to praising our Lord a little to loud and we were asked to leave (LOL). We went outside and Sam fell asleep in my arms while Nick was approached by a Chinese television crew and asked if they could interview him about being a Christian and what Christmas is like for him as a Christian. After church Doris and Pat gave us a New Testament Bible in both english and chinese. We then went and ate at the Cow and Bridge which is a Thai restaurant. Nick, being the adventurous eater that he is, order a seafood noodle dish. He really enjoyed it and had ate almost all of it when he saw something with "suction cups" and tentacles at the bottom of the bowl. It was either a baby Octopus or Squid (see picture). We were also approached today by a group of about 6 chinese girls who wanted to practice their english on us. Our young girl was Jenny (she is pictured above with Nick and Sam). She spoke excellent english and was so polite! We did a little shopping today.. and I bartered as best as I could. I got Sam two chinese outfits and 3 pair of squeaky shoes. Let me tell you, he LOVES those shoes... he just dances and jumps so he can hear them squeak! Tomorrow we leave at 8:30 to get Sam's medical exam and then we will go to the zoo. Sam seems to really be enjoying strolling through the streets and seeing all the sights. That is all for now. We will write again tomorrow. Love to you all.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

We Made it to Guangzhou






We are here in Guangzhou and the weather is very nice. It is sunny and in the high 70's. There are lots of tropical flowers and palm trees. Sam did okay for his first plane ride. He is a boy and he can get fussy when he has to be still for very long. None of us could sit together because the flight was so full so I had to sit with Sam in my lap between two other people. One of them asked to be moved which was a blessing because it gave us more room. Anyway we made it safely and please pray that Sam sleeps alot on our way home to the U.S. We are staying at the Holiday Inn and it is VERY nice. It is a large room and Sam is having a ball running around checking out his new home for this week. I guess he thinks we live in hotels!! After we unpacked we went for a walk over to Shamian Island. On our way there we walked through a street market where we saw alot of unusual items for sale... lots of puppies and kittens, dried seahorses, live snakes, live turtles, live eels, aligators, all kind of herbs. China is very crowded! Wherever you go there is always lots of people.. and they are all fascinated by us. Tonight they were taking pictures of us as we were taking pictures of the sights. We ate a favorite local spot called Lucy's. Sam had mashed potatoes and grilled cheese and of course he loved it!! He is also experiencing all of this for the first time and he is as fascinated by all of it as we are. Tomorrow morning Mrs. Pat is giving us a Thanksgiving service to thank God for our beautiful children. We will also go to church then have lunch at the Cow and Bridge Restaurant. The pictures for today include a picture of all three babies in the airport before we left for Guangzhou, Nick and Sam in front of the Christmas tree in the lobby, Doris (our facilitator) and Grandma Pat with Sam in front of gingerbread house in lobby, and the other two are us eating at Lucy's. We are starting to get homesick. We cannot wait to see everyone and have them meet our little man! Please continue to keep us in your prayers... we truly feel them. God has blessed us so very much! Oh by the way Sherry.. there is a shop here called Sherry's place and it is located right next to Susan's Place!!! Tell Hunter we got his message about Sam's hair and we are really going to try and keep him looking "cool"!!