One week at home with Hannah

We have been home for just over a week.  We are enjoying the extra day together on Memorial Day as we gratefully remember those who served our country.  We know many of you have questions, so here are the answers to recently asked questions.

How is Hannah doing?

Hannah is doing very well.  She is a very sweet girl with a smile to light up a room.  She has had minimal tantrums since we arrived home and have had a consistent schedule.  She is sleeping great in the room that she shares with Claire.  

She seems to be growing in her understanding of the English language already.  She is still speaking her local dialect quite often, but we get by with a few known phrases and some sign language.  Her voice is so cute, we just want to bottle it up!  We know she will not speak her native language for long.  She has learned one English word.  "Hello!"  Matt has also been working on "ball" and "up".

She is still pretty picky with her food choices.  She loves carbs and watermelon!  We also found a new favorite...corn on the cob!  We are working on getting her to eat meat and drink milk.  We are thankful that the local Asian Market sells shelf-stable milk.  Who wouldn't like sugary milk?!    

We have found that she loves to swing on the swing set.  She also likes to play dolls, magna-tiles, and kitchen.  When she doesn't get her way she will walk off and pout in a corner until she gets what she wants.

She is quite the character.  She loves to be the center of attention.  She is quick to get everyone's attention at the table.  She makes a fake sneeze, "A Choo!"  The kids love it!  It is her best trick.  

How are the kids with Hannah?

Nathan, Micah and Claire love their little sister, mei mei.  She is quite the novelty.  They love to lead her around and show her new things.  They enjoy playing with her and making her laugh.  Claire loves to have a room mate.  She is a great older sister, jie jie. Nathan likes to make funny faces with her.  He thinks, "she is so cute!"  Micah is wanting to play with Hannah all by himself.  He is liking her sweet milk and treats from China.  He also enjoys one of her toys that plays Chinese songs.  All of the kids were excited to show her off at school.

Is Micah related to Hannah and from the same orphanage?

Micah and Hannah are not from the same orphanage.  They are from different regions of China.  Micah and Hannah are not blood relatives, but are now siblings by God's amazing design.

Can Micah communicate with Hannah?

Micah is unable to communicate with Hannah in her native language.  Their cities have different dialects.  Micah no longer speaks or understands his native language.  It is very common for adoptive children to lose their native language quite quickly.  We anticipate that Hannah will lose her native language even sooner than Micah did based on her age and limited vocabulary.

How are we (Matt and Deanna) doing?
We are doing good.  Matt has been off work, so that has helped during our transition.  We are grateful that we are just about caught up on our sleep and back into the central time zone.  Jet lag was horrible!  We have stayed home most of the week.  We have gone to a few appointments and the kids' activities.

Hannah did well at her initial visit with the pediatrician. She was a trooper for her blood draw.  She didn't shed a single tear while at the doctor's office!  On June 1st she will have a sedated MRI.  We will go to Children's Memorial in Chicago on June 17th to establish care with neurology.  We would love for you to pray that Hannah does well with the MRI.  We also ask for prayers of wisdom and clarity for the doctors caring for Hannah.

We thank you for all your prayers so far.  We know that your prayers have been heard and answered by our sovereign God.  He deserves all the glory for the wonderful transition that Hannah has had so far.  We realize that Hannah has not been a part of our family for long.  We trust that God will hold her and comfort her as she adjusts and grieves.  God's grace is a gift we are so thankful to receive.  We pray that Hannah will learn and grow in her knowledge of our Savior, Jesus.  It is through Him that we have eternal life and forgiveness of our sins.

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?  We would love to share with you the power of the cross and how you can also be adopted into God's family.  In fact, you don't have to travel all of the way from China to the U.S. to join the family.  All you need to do is accept Jesus as your lord and savior.  We'd love to tell you how.

At the park with Mama and Baba while the big kids were at school

First s'more roast of the season.  It was no surprise that Hannah loved this sweet treat.

Cheering on Nathan at baseball.  She is also sporting her first pony tail and pig tails.

Mmm...corn on the cob!  She had two pieces that night.

A glimpse of Chinese culture

We wanted to share some pictures that did not make it into our other posts.  We tried to take pictures that would show the Chinese culture and way of living.  It is so hard to capture in pictures.  The smells, the people, the congestion...the list goes on.  Just like our visits to other countries, no words or pictures could fully give you a picture of the culture.  China will always have a special place in our hearts.

We arrived on Labor Day weekend.  There were many fireworks!  All. day. long!  This was a firework cage in the parking lot of our hotel.  There were many weddings that day as well.

A typical apartment building with laundry hanging to dry.

 The scooter is a popular mode of transportation.

Many people prepare their food right on the street.  We even saw a woman preparing a whole chicken right on the sidewalk.

Some pictures from our visits to the grocery store.

Eggs are not refrigerated.

Rice bins

These animal hides were being sold outside of McDonald's by our hotel. Yes, that is a dog!

Galactic Peace Hotel - Nanchang, China

This a post about our hotel in Nanchang.  We wanted to share some pictures of the hotel.  We are hoping that it will helpful for other families that are travelling to Jiangxi province.

Hotel Lobby

Pool

 A standard room

Bathroom

Breakfast Dining Room

Breakfast Buffet

First Day at Home

***We have added pictures and posts to our China posts.  We invite you to check them out!***

We have been home for a day and we are happy to be home!  We are tired!  The kids are so excited to play and we are dragging along.  Jet lag is no joke.  We are struggling.

Hannah is doing well.  Her big brothers and big sister are in love with her.  Pretty much anything she does puts a smile on their faces.  They love to help her and show her new things.  Claire is especially in love with her new roommate.

When we arrived home yesterday, Hannah fell asleep in the car.  The kids had to wait a few hours before we woke her from her jet lagged slumber.  She was cranky.  They were excitedly in her face.  A few minutes went by and then we heard, "Ni Hao!"  That greeting from her brought smiles all around.  Everyone played for a couple of hours.  Dinner was served.  Then we were all off to bed by 8:30 pm.

No car seat fight!...Night time in China.

Our welcoming crew!

Marquette Family of 6!  It's not easy to get four kids to cooperate.

The rooster crowed at 5:00 am.  Hannah woke up and then the rest of the gang followed shortly after.  We had more play time and the sun was not even up!  We made breakfast and then headed to church in split shifts.  What a joy to fellowship with other believers!  We are so grateful for our church that preaches biblical truths and praises Him.  We are also grateful for the love and support from our church family.

After church we had lunch.  We have been trying to serve rice, noodles, or eggs at the meals we have had at home.  We are hoping to ease Hannah into our meal preferences.  We have discovered that she is quite picky and a carb lover.

After nap time, the kids headed outside.  Seeing four kids on the swing set certainly made it real!  WE HAVE FOUR KIDS!!!  We are so blessed with these gifts from God.

The kids head off to school tomorrow, so Hannah will have some one on one time this week.  Matt is off work for another week during this transition.  Our week is full appointments.  We will be busy!  We covet your prayers as we begin Hannah's medical evaluations.  We also ask for prayer as we work with the school district to advocate and arrange services for Micah.

We've Arrived!

We just arrived in Peoria!  Happy days!  Thank you for all of your prayers.

Back on Track to Peoria

After talking with Delta again this morning, we got airfare booked all of the way back to Peoria.  Now we will be flying Delta to Chicago and American Airlines to Peoria.  If all goes well, we will be back sometime around 3PM.  We praise God for getting us this for and continue to ask for his blessing and security as we travel the last leg of our trip today.  Thank you for all of your prayers so far.  We love each and every one of you!

Delta #4557 to ORD (Arrives at 12:30 PM)
American Airlines #3125 to PIA (Arrives at 2:40 PM)

Stranded in Detroit

We made it to Detroit. We are at a hotel for the night.

Highlights of the night:

• Hannah is a U.S.citizen!!!
• Hannah did REALLY well on the plane and slept most of the way.  What a blessing!  Thank you to everyone for your prayers.  
• Ordering pizza at 12:30AM with your 2-year old daughter in the hotel lobby.  Yes, tonight we were THOSE parents.  After all, it's noon back in China.

We are still ironing out travel details for tomorrow. The only flight to Peoria out of Detroit is not until 7:30pm on Saturday. We really want to get home before then. The kids and Deanna's mom are ready for us to be home, too.  We have been booked on a flight that gets into Chicago at 12;30 and then maybe we'll drive home?

Thank you for praying!

Flights Delayed...We will NOT be home Friday!

Family and friends,
Our first two flights have been delayed. We do not know when we can get a flight to Peoria. We will not be home Friday night. At this point, we are in Shanghai and are waiting for our flight to Detroit. The Delta staff in Shanghai said to make arrangements when we land in Detroit. We appreciate your prayers for all of the details. We are looking forward to getting home. We will post details as we hear of them. Thank you for praying.

Day 14 - Back to Shamian

Today was our last full day in China.  Although this is the home country of two of our children, we are ready to come home.  Nathan, Micah, and Claire have been counting the days until they can meet their mei mei.  We are so excited to bring Hannah home!

We spent part of today going back to Shamian Island.  We did some shopping and visited with our favorite shop owners.  They love our little Xi Xi.  They spent time playing with her and giving her snacks. 

This afternoon we spent at the hotel.  Deanna packed while Hannah napped.  We ate dinner at the executive lounge.  Then, Matt took Hannah to play while Deanna finished packing.  We are off to bed.  We are scheduled to leave our hotel at 6am to start our journey home.  Thank you again for your support, love and prayers!

Travel Details

We leave tomorrow morning! (China's Friday, Thursday night CST)  We have had some people ask if they may greet us at the airport. Absolutely! We invite you to meet Hannah at Peoria Airport on Friday night. We anticipate the visit to be brief, but you are all welcome.  We will arrive on Delta flight 4871 from Detroit at 8:32pm. Please pray we make our connecting flights. China is notorious for late flights and our layover in Detroit is not very long. We look forward to bringing Hannah HOME. Thank you for praying. Thank you for following our adventures in China. You are a blessing to our family.

Day 13 - Guangzhou Zoo

Today we visited the Guangzhou Zoo.  Hannah made it through the cab ride without crying!  First and only time!  We saw many animals, but the highlight was the giraffes.  We fed the giraffes and Hannah loved it!  She also enjoyed a ride on a boat.  Those are the only things she loved about the zoo.  She spent a good portion of the time crying with unhappiness.  We are praying she grows in her communication.

We came back to the hotel for lunch.  We were hoping that with a full belly she would be happy.  We traveled to the nearby toy market.  Over 8 stories of chaos.  Much to our surprise, there were not many toys.  There were household goods, jewelry, party supplies and much more.  We walked a few floors and left because Hannah was pretty unhappy.  We were grateful to catch a taxi without any problems. It can be tricky sometimes!

Tonight we stayed around the hotel so Hannah could get to bed early.  She has been taking naps late afternoon and then not wanting to go to sleep until around 10:00pm.  We were hoping to get her back to an 8:00pm bed time.  She was not happy with that plan.  She threw a good tantrum for about 45 minutes.  She and Deanna are making progress.  She is allowing Deanna to have more contact and even showing some affection.  What an answer to prayer!

Our internet has been spotty, so we have been trying our best to stay up to date.  In case this is our last post from China (We leave Friday!!!), we will share some prayer requests and travel details.

-Pray for safe travels and smooth flights.

-Pray for Hannah to do well on the plane.  To date, she cries most times we travel by car, bus, train or plane.  We are praying she will be able to sleep on the plane.

-We met a family at dinner that disrupted their adoption.  This means that they did not proceed with the adoption of the child they were matched with.  There are many details involved.  Please pray that a family equipped for this child's needs would come forward to adopt him.  Please pray for the family to have peace with their decision to disrupt. They have had many heart breaks in their process and did not anticipate their trip to end this way.

Day 12 - U.S. Consulate Appointment

Today was the big day!  Today we had our U.S. Consulate appointment.  It is actually pretty anti-climatic for such a big event in the process.  There are no cameras allowed, but we took a picture of Hannah in her red, white and blue before we departed.  

Upon arrival at the Consulate, we were able to bypass the LONG line and enter via the U.S. citizen entrance.  Then, we went through security and went to the second floor.  We took a number an waited to be called.  When we took our oath, we huddled around the officer behind a glass window...all families at one time.  Then, we waited our turn and answered a few questions for the officer.  Now, we wait for Hannah's visa to be issued.

We returned to the hotel for lunch and then headed to the pool.  Today was a beautiful day with no rain and little humidity.  Later in the afternoon, Deanna headed to the exit meeting with our agency group while Hannah napped.

This evening started with a group photo of the 20 families that are here with our adoption agency.  We followed that with a taste of home...Papa John's Pizza!  It tasted pretty darn good after this long in China.  We ate our pizza in the courtyard of our hotel and then snapped some pictures of Hannah while she was dressed in her silks.

We walked to the other park that is nearby our hotel, Liu Hua Hu Park.  It was beautiful!  Banyan trees, palm trees, lakes, water lilies and more!  Evening exercisers were in full force.  We saw a group of speed walkers, many joggers and of course the "China Sports Lottery."  This is the group workout area.  There was also table tennis, badminton and karaoke.  It is always fun to observe the traditions of the Chinese culture.

We stopped by the shops nearby our hotel to end the evening.