The Countdown Has Begun...

24 hours and counting as I am typing this… Life continues to be busy with our little Liam. In 10 days I give us pretty high marks in figuring out his likes and dislikes. Okay, the truth is that he doesn’t have many dislikes just yet. When we met Liam he was very complacent and I am sure he was shell shocked. He now has his various sounds and actions that let us know what he wants. Basically, he has 3 needs and I think he looks at us like we are crazy when we don’t get it right. “After all”, he’s thinking, “how simple can I make this for these people”. He either wants to eat, play or sleep. Really that is it. He wakes up each morning and rubs his eyes and smiles from ear to ear. I think there may be just a little relief to see that the same people are still here. He then says his variation of “more” as he reaches to the dresser where we keep his bottle. He drinks about 4 oz then squirms to get down on the floor and playtime begins. We have made a routine of skyping the kids each morning and turning the camera so they can watch him play. Skype has been amazing. The family has been able to see us each time but we have only been able to see them 2 or 3 times. Liam does seem to study the photo album we brought and I think he will recognize his siblings.

We did our group pictures yesterday. Hmmm, 10 kids (1 wasn’t there because she had a medical appointment) we should have anticipated the chaos. All was well as we took a few pictures of Liam alone but then we tried to line 10 babies up on the sofa. Most of the babies took to just sitting there. Poor Liam sucked in that thumb like a Hoover as more and more babies surrounded him. He held it together until Matthew next to him kept wiggling and as they went to scoot Matthew back Liam got bonked. We saw the lip come out and the tears well up. Most people have dealt with a fair amount of crying this week and left their kids there just a bit while crying. I had mentioned we can count on 2 hands the number of times Liam has cried. There was no way we were going to make this traumatizing for him so I scooped him up. He grabbed me tight and it was so sweet. I ended up sitting him on the back of the sofa and held him but we didn’t get another picture. Hopefully with like 1000 pictures taken a few have turned out well. We then took a Giant group photo which has people looking every which way. It is funnier to us than anything else.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the U.S. Consulate and took our oath. I had heard it was rather insignificant and so was surprised when tears welled up in my eyes. It starts off rather legalistic. We were in a room with 38 families’ total. The woman who runs the office welcomed us and acknowledged all the time and emotions this journey has taken us through. She was kind enough to have looked through the list to see how many first time parents were in the group and how many kids had birthdays in May. She also recognized a family who was here on their 4th adoption! She and our guide both shared that these children who had no one to call their own now have many roles; sons or daughters, grandchildren, brothers or sisters, cousins, and nieces or nephews They acknowledged that these children did not have much promise for a future but now the future is theirs. I am not sure if I am weepier than most but I thought that was beautiful. An American who was sitting behind us asked what province Liam was from. I told him Liam is a Hunan spicy boy. (Hunan is known through all of China for their spicy cuisine). Please feel free to refer to me a Hunan spicy mama once at home as I have come to enjoy it! Anyway, the guy said he asked because Liam doesn’t even look Chinese. Really, I am getting tired of hearing that. We traveled half way around the world for him!

The 3 of us ventured out for dinner again last night and went to a restaurant someone else in our group had suggested. I have to tell you that we are getting VERY good at charades. The most English we got was a “hello”. Fortunately there were pictures on the menu. Liam has taken to dumplings so that is what we were looking for. It was a great dinner. Kinda like we talk like no one can understand us, the Chinese look at us like we can’t see them. Not kidding, at one point there was 3 wait staff like 2-3 feet from our table just looking at us. I resisted the urge to tell them to back off but geez. They also think it is just fine to come and touch your baby. My mama bear took over then and I scooted him closer to us or turned him a little each time.

Well the time has come and this will be our last post from China! Today we have to ourselves. Tomorrow our first flight leaves at 9:50 am for Hong Kong then through Chicago to arrive St. Louis 23 hours later. We are flying United Airlines and our last flight from Chicago to St. Louis is UA8039 to arrive at 5:37pm. If anyone is interested in going to the airport, Lauren will be keeping track of our arrival.

I am sure the emotions will be all over the board today. We are both soooooo ready to be home but how bittersweet for Liam to say goodbye to his home. It may not have been the kind of home fit for such a precious little boy, or for anyone actually, but the sights and sounds and smells and everything about it must bring him a certain amount of comfort. Yesterday our guide asked him a question in Mandarin and he replied appropriately. It will be a little sad to see him lose his primary language. They suggest that he get a good grasp on his new life before we try to reintroduce Mandarin again. This trip has inspired me to learn Mandarin so maybe Liam and I can learn (re-learn) together.

This is a great time to thank all of you for providing so much love and support. One of our daily highlights was reading your comments and e-mails. Thank you for taking the time to follow our story as it unfolded and to spend time praying for our family. We have learned that God doesn’t call the equipped but instead equips those that he calls. I am so happy that we answered His call. He is proving Himself just as He promises by equipping us a little more each day. There were many moments in those early days that I wondered just what had we done. Those are not my proudest moments as a new mommy. My son deserves more is what I kept thinking. But each day I can feel Liam making his way further and deeper into my heart. This is a kind of love I have never felt before. It continues to be a little bit scary at times but right this moment my heart is swelling with pride when I think of our beautiful son, Liam.

Farewell from China.
Love,
Paige, Steve and Liam

Liam finishing studying the pictures of his jie jie and gege so he will be able to recognize them

This boy sure does love his omelettes

Playroom at the China Hotel where we stayed while in Guangzhou

"My mommy and daddy can't get over just how cute I am."


"Hey, you're a little close."

Trying to find comfort in that little thumb

"I can't take any more babies!"

The mom's (the dads were too smart to avoid a group picture)



One last very special and significant appointment

Our celebratory dinner; we've jumped through our last hoop