little missy with her hair clip and bunny slippers
Jie Jie & Mei Mei The next big girl band!!
Our welcome homeFaith hasn't quite got the hang of this toy yet..
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A few pics
little missy with her hair clip and bunny slippers Jie Jie & Mei Mei The next big girl band!! Our welcome homeFaith hasn't quite got the hang of this toy yet..
Monday, November 17, 2008
More Pics to come
Hey,
Several people have asked Janet for more pictures of Faith. We will post some of Faith with the kids tomorrow. We have been so tired we haven't picked up the camera.
Faith is doing really well. She is adjusting to the time difference and smiling a lot. It's Janet and I that are having the issues and being grumpy. Well ok, Janet is having issues with me be grumpy... whatever.
I took Jake, Noah and Joylin to the movies tonight (which I fell asleep in). When we arrived home Faith looked up, out stretched her arms and came quickly to me with a big smile. It was such a great feeling. I can't tell you how wonderful that moment was.
Faith thinks Jake and Noah are pretty funny but has been slow to warm to Joylin. Much to the disappointment of Joylin. Poor baby just wants her Mei Mei to love her. She has had her feelings hurt several times. It's hard to make a 5 year old understand whats going on. Then add mom having to split her time and it makes it even worse. Joylin and I have been spending more time together to help her during this transition. We were expecting issues, so it's not a surprise. We are just looking forward to Faith drawing closer to Joylin and that relationship beginning.
Faith isn't quite sure about Murphy and Minnie. Being that they are 4 times her size that's understandable. They are being very gentle but they are just overwhelming. Obviously they aren't allowed any where near her without us right there. Faith thinks Mickey is cool and has taken a liking to tugging on his ears. Mickey's not to sure about Faith... :)
Thanks for all your prayers before we left China. I got pretty sick on Thursday night and was in the bathroom Saturday morning at 4am very worried. We left for the airport at 5:50.
I was prepared for a nightmare trip home, but I began to feel better and didn't have any real problems during the trip!! But I did again yesterday after we got home. Everyone that got this in China was down for the count for 24 hours. I got it, it stopped for the trip home, then came back. Thanks for the prayers!!
We started our trip home at the Guangzhou airport at 6:30am Saturday. There was some issue at check in that we never really understood. There was a lot of Chinese being spoken and some irritated facial expressions. After about 35 minutes at the counter we finally got checked in only to find that one bag was overweight by 6 pounds. I said I'd pay an overage fee but that apparently wasn't an option. So with about 40 people behind us in line (actually being very patient) I jumped over the luggage counter and started pulling stuff out of the bag looking at the young lady every few minutes to have her motion "more, more". Finally reaching the goal I looked up realizing that I had a pile of underwear up on the counter... :( Needless to say I was embarrassed and made a quick exit.
Four hour flight to Korea then a six hour lay over went well. Faith did great. There was a really nice children's play area right by our gate so we spent a lot of the six hours in there playing. We then left for Atlanta on a 14 hour flight. Faith again did great. She slept for about 10 hours which made things much easier. Again thanks for all the prayers, it could have been awful. We've heard stories.
So here we are, a family of 6. Four kids, wow. Janet is anxious, but will do wonderfully. I'm probably a bit to caviler about it, but will still get the job done. So what now? We love every minute we have with four of the most beautiful children you will every see. And who knows..... our dinning room table can expand to sit 14. :)
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. It has meant a lot to us knowing our friends love us and care about what is going on in the Lescalleet household. Give us a few weeks to get adjusted then come see us.
Love,
Tim
Several people have asked Janet for more pictures of Faith. We will post some of Faith with the kids tomorrow. We have been so tired we haven't picked up the camera.
Faith is doing really well. She is adjusting to the time difference and smiling a lot. It's Janet and I that are having the issues and being grumpy. Well ok, Janet is having issues with me be grumpy... whatever.
I took Jake, Noah and Joylin to the movies tonight (which I fell asleep in). When we arrived home Faith looked up, out stretched her arms and came quickly to me with a big smile. It was such a great feeling. I can't tell you how wonderful that moment was.
Faith thinks Jake and Noah are pretty funny but has been slow to warm to Joylin. Much to the disappointment of Joylin. Poor baby just wants her Mei Mei to love her. She has had her feelings hurt several times. It's hard to make a 5 year old understand whats going on. Then add mom having to split her time and it makes it even worse. Joylin and I have been spending more time together to help her during this transition. We were expecting issues, so it's not a surprise. We are just looking forward to Faith drawing closer to Joylin and that relationship beginning.
Faith isn't quite sure about Murphy and Minnie. Being that they are 4 times her size that's understandable. They are being very gentle but they are just overwhelming. Obviously they aren't allowed any where near her without us right there. Faith thinks Mickey is cool and has taken a liking to tugging on his ears. Mickey's not to sure about Faith... :)
Thanks for all your prayers before we left China. I got pretty sick on Thursday night and was in the bathroom Saturday morning at 4am very worried. We left for the airport at 5:50.
I was prepared for a nightmare trip home, but I began to feel better and didn't have any real problems during the trip!! But I did again yesterday after we got home. Everyone that got this in China was down for the count for 24 hours. I got it, it stopped for the trip home, then came back. Thanks for the prayers!!
We started our trip home at the Guangzhou airport at 6:30am Saturday. There was some issue at check in that we never really understood. There was a lot of Chinese being spoken and some irritated facial expressions. After about 35 minutes at the counter we finally got checked in only to find that one bag was overweight by 6 pounds. I said I'd pay an overage fee but that apparently wasn't an option. So with about 40 people behind us in line (actually being very patient) I jumped over the luggage counter and started pulling stuff out of the bag looking at the young lady every few minutes to have her motion "more, more". Finally reaching the goal I looked up realizing that I had a pile of underwear up on the counter... :( Needless to say I was embarrassed and made a quick exit.
Four hour flight to Korea then a six hour lay over went well. Faith did great. There was a really nice children's play area right by our gate so we spent a lot of the six hours in there playing. We then left for Atlanta on a 14 hour flight. Faith again did great. She slept for about 10 hours which made things much easier. Again thanks for all the prayers, it could have been awful. We've heard stories.
So here we are, a family of 6. Four kids, wow. Janet is anxious, but will do wonderfully. I'm probably a bit to caviler about it, but will still get the job done. So what now? We love every minute we have with four of the most beautiful children you will every see. And who knows..... our dinning room table can expand to sit 14. :)
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. It has meant a lot to us knowing our friends love us and care about what is going on in the Lescalleet household. Give us a few weeks to get adjusted then come see us.
Love,
Tim
Sunday, November 16, 2008
We're Home!!!!
Hey everyone,
We made is safely. We got home at about 11 pm on Sat night. We were greeted with a very tired but excited family.
We are so happy to be home. We are acclimating to the new time zone so we are sleeping at strange times. I hope it won't take more than a week to get back to normal.
Thanks again for all your prayers and great comments. Please continue to pray for us as we transition and Faith learns her new language.
God bless,
Janet
We made is safely. We got home at about 11 pm on Sat night. We were greeted with a very tired but excited family.
We are so happy to be home. We are acclimating to the new time zone so we are sleeping at strange times. I hope it won't take more than a week to get back to normal.
Thanks again for all your prayers and great comments. Please continue to pray for us as we transition and Faith learns her new language.
God bless,
Janet
Friday, November 14, 2008
Leaving China today
Greetings from the wonderful bustling China,
This will be our last post while in the great country!
As we are packing our last few things and boiling our last pot of water (did Tim mention you can't drink the water here?) I realize that I have so many emotions banging around in my heart and my head I can barely sort through them. A few I can identify easily.
The first is of unspeakable joy. How in the world did I get to be the wife and mom of such wonderful people? As Tim has demonstrated to you the past two weeks he is an awesome man, husband and daddy. Our kids are the best. Some of you know that I have never been that much of a kid person. I have always liked them OK but kids have not been my passion. I never babysat, well the few times I did I didn't enjoy it very much. But now? Oh man, I am hooked and it took my precious children to show me the thrill of knowing a child. The new little one in our family is going to fit right in she has brought so much joy and laughter already and she hasn't even met the majority of the family. How did God pick me? How did he know I would love motherhood so much? Well, that's easy, He's God.
I am also feeling extreme FEAR! Just typing these words has my stomach in knots. How in the world am I going to juggle all that has to be done? Our precious Faith will need 24/7 nurturing and care to ensure bonding and attachment. We are well on our way but we still have a lot of work to do. She still doesn't understand most of what I say. She has melt downs that I'm sure if I knew her better I would be able to read. The thing is I have 3 at home who after a long 2 weeks are going to need the same level of care and nurturing. How will I do it? Something I've been learning about God the last couple of years is that he never gives us a task or responsibility that we can do without His help. If we could what we would we need Him for? No, he allows us the privilege to live life with challenges that only He can accomplish through us. So here I am with one very big responsibility and one very humble spirit to know I cannot do this on my own. So, am I still afraid? You bet, but I know I am not doing this alone and that helps me to feel less fearful and more expectant.
A deep sense of sadness fills my heart as we leave China. We leave some very nice people who I think may come friends over the years as we share pictures and experiences with our girls but that isn't where the deep sadness comes from. Our daughter is now a citizen of China. All the sights, sounds and smells here (good or bad) are hers. When we come back she will only be a visitor. She knows this language. She was in foster care most of her life so she has a very good handle on everything that is Chinese. She won't remember any of it. It's just sad, there is no way around it. I really believe that in God's perfect plan families were meant to be together. Since He loves us so much He has allowed us to make some choices and often we make some bad ones. So here we are with this beautiful girl who fills us with joy who has come to us from because some people made some very hard and sad choices.
I am also feeling very excited! I want to see my babies! I have missed them so much and can't wait to give them big hugs and kisses. I told Tim I even miss the dogs. His comment was something about that changing in ten minutes after we get home....he's probably right. We have had such beautiful weather the past few days. It felt as if we were back in the Keys in the winter again. We missed the peaking of the fall leaves turning. I will be glad to smell the fires in the fire places and feel the cool crisp air. I am looking forward to introducing Faith to the new sights and sounds that will be hers as soon as we go through immigration in Atlanta tomorrow evening. She will be an American citizen! I am so excited to be coming home and sleeping in a bed that doesn't feel like my front door. Taking a shower in which I can open my mouth and not have to gargle with Listerine will be nice.
How can I be feeling all these things at the same time, not sure but there are more emotions that I can't figure out and I don't have time to explore. We have to have our bags out for the bellman in 30 mins....yikes! Gotta go.
Thank you all for joining us on our journey! God bless you all,
Janet
This will be our last post while in the great country!
As we are packing our last few things and boiling our last pot of water (did Tim mention you can't drink the water here?) I realize that I have so many emotions banging around in my heart and my head I can barely sort through them. A few I can identify easily.
The first is of unspeakable joy. How in the world did I get to be the wife and mom of such wonderful people? As Tim has demonstrated to you the past two weeks he is an awesome man, husband and daddy. Our kids are the best. Some of you know that I have never been that much of a kid person. I have always liked them OK but kids have not been my passion. I never babysat, well the few times I did I didn't enjoy it very much. But now? Oh man, I am hooked and it took my precious children to show me the thrill of knowing a child. The new little one in our family is going to fit right in she has brought so much joy and laughter already and she hasn't even met the majority of the family. How did God pick me? How did he know I would love motherhood so much? Well, that's easy, He's God.
I am also feeling extreme FEAR! Just typing these words has my stomach in knots. How in the world am I going to juggle all that has to be done? Our precious Faith will need 24/7 nurturing and care to ensure bonding and attachment. We are well on our way but we still have a lot of work to do. She still doesn't understand most of what I say. She has melt downs that I'm sure if I knew her better I would be able to read. The thing is I have 3 at home who after a long 2 weeks are going to need the same level of care and nurturing. How will I do it? Something I've been learning about God the last couple of years is that he never gives us a task or responsibility that we can do without His help. If we could what we would we need Him for? No, he allows us the privilege to live life with challenges that only He can accomplish through us. So here I am with one very big responsibility and one very humble spirit to know I cannot do this on my own. So, am I still afraid? You bet, but I know I am not doing this alone and that helps me to feel less fearful and more expectant.
A deep sense of sadness fills my heart as we leave China. We leave some very nice people who I think may come friends over the years as we share pictures and experiences with our girls but that isn't where the deep sadness comes from. Our daughter is now a citizen of China. All the sights, sounds and smells here (good or bad) are hers. When we come back she will only be a visitor. She knows this language. She was in foster care most of her life so she has a very good handle on everything that is Chinese. She won't remember any of it. It's just sad, there is no way around it. I really believe that in God's perfect plan families were meant to be together. Since He loves us so much He has allowed us to make some choices and often we make some bad ones. So here we are with this beautiful girl who fills us with joy who has come to us from because some people made some very hard and sad choices.
I am also feeling very excited! I want to see my babies! I have missed them so much and can't wait to give them big hugs and kisses. I told Tim I even miss the dogs. His comment was something about that changing in ten minutes after we get home....he's probably right. We have had such beautiful weather the past few days. It felt as if we were back in the Keys in the winter again. We missed the peaking of the fall leaves turning. I will be glad to smell the fires in the fire places and feel the cool crisp air. I am looking forward to introducing Faith to the new sights and sounds that will be hers as soon as we go through immigration in Atlanta tomorrow evening. She will be an American citizen! I am so excited to be coming home and sleeping in a bed that doesn't feel like my front door. Taking a shower in which I can open my mouth and not have to gargle with Listerine will be nice.
How can I be feeling all these things at the same time, not sure but there are more emotions that I can't figure out and I don't have time to explore. We have to have our bags out for the bellman in 30 mins....yikes! Gotta go.
Thank you all for joining us on our journey! God bless you all,
Janet
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Almost home
Well, we are almost finished with our Chinese adventure. No, I take that back, we are still at the beginning of our adventure with China. We are simply ending this stage. For the rest of our lives China will be a part of how we think, how we celebrate, of who we are.
Tomorrow we go to the American Consulate and take the Oath and get Faith's Visa. Faith will automatically become a US citizen when we go through customs in the US.
This has been an amazing two weeks. We are ready to come home though. We miss Jake, Noah and Joylin terribly, but when you look into Faiths eyes it has all been worth it. The years of waiting, paper work, government appointments, home studies are all meaningless when you look at that beautiful face. I understand intellectually why this happened to Faith, but when you meet her you can not help but stand dumbfounded that anyone could let this precious little girl go. My heart grieves for what she has gone through. You so wish this was an isolated case but there are so many that need a home. Need someone to love them. To show them that they are special, that their life has purpose and meaning. The joy that our children, Jake, Noah, Joylin and Faith have brought to Janet and I is unmeasurable. We are so thankful for them.
The last two days have been incredible. Faith has recovered from her sickness and has just opened up to us so wonderfully. Janet and Faith are doing great. But Janet, being who she is, is always looking for the connection to be stronger. She is such a great mom. I am constantly amazed at her discipline and commitment to do all she can for our children. But more importantly than that.....Daddy is back on the A list!!!!!! Sorry Janet, I'm trying not to be so irresistible. :) We have had some great moments, as well as some trying ones..... :). Faith is something else; smart, beautiful, curious. I hope you have caught some of that in the pictures and videos posted.
We have been asked many times "Why adopt from China?". Our answer has been refined down to Why not. Does a child's birth place make their lives more or less valuable? If a child needs a home and you have the love and ability to care for them, shouldn't you? It is our prayer that the political and cultural situations/policies/attitudes will change here so there are no children needing homes. But today there are and when I look at Faith Nahia Daine Lescalleet I say Lord, thank you for giving us the ability to add this precious gift to our family. I pray we prove worthy of her love.
BaBa (bye bye, poopy, daddy) She started saying bye bye... "B B" so now it's really confusing
Tomorrow we go to the American Consulate and take the Oath and get Faith's Visa. Faith will automatically become a US citizen when we go through customs in the US.
This has been an amazing two weeks. We are ready to come home though. We miss Jake, Noah and Joylin terribly, but when you look into Faiths eyes it has all been worth it. The years of waiting, paper work, government appointments, home studies are all meaningless when you look at that beautiful face. I understand intellectually why this happened to Faith, but when you meet her you can not help but stand dumbfounded that anyone could let this precious little girl go. My heart grieves for what she has gone through. You so wish this was an isolated case but there are so many that need a home. Need someone to love them. To show them that they are special, that their life has purpose and meaning. The joy that our children, Jake, Noah, Joylin and Faith have brought to Janet and I is unmeasurable. We are so thankful for them.
The last two days have been incredible. Faith has recovered from her sickness and has just opened up to us so wonderfully. Janet and Faith are doing great. But Janet, being who she is, is always looking for the connection to be stronger. She is such a great mom. I am constantly amazed at her discipline and commitment to do all she can for our children. But more importantly than that.....Daddy is back on the A list!!!!!! Sorry Janet, I'm trying not to be so irresistible. :) We have had some great moments, as well as some trying ones..... :). Faith is something else; smart, beautiful, curious. I hope you have caught some of that in the pictures and videos posted.
We have been asked many times "Why adopt from China?". Our answer has been refined down to Why not. Does a child's birth place make their lives more or less valuable? If a child needs a home and you have the love and ability to care for them, shouldn't you? It is our prayer that the political and cultural situations/policies/attitudes will change here so there are no children needing homes. But today there are and when I look at Faith Nahia Daine Lescalleet I say Lord, thank you for giving us the ability to add this precious gift to our family. I pray we prove worthy of her love.
BaBa (bye bye, poopy, daddy) She started saying bye bye... "B B" so now it's really confusing
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
More of China
A game that is played everywhere. Young people, old people doesn't matter. Some of the best players we have seen are older ladies. Homeschooler guess what we will be doing my first PE back..... :)
A few more
At dinner tonight smiling. By the way, a great Italian Restaurant.
These are the girls that were with Faith in the orphanage. These are her " Fuzhou Sisters". They are so sweet and beautiful. We all are so very fortunate to have these precious little ones join our families.
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