8 Weeks Later

It's been 8 weeks since we have known our Roy-boy.  It is hard to believe - some days it feels as if we have known him forever & some days it feels like it's only been 8 days. 

We FINALLY feel like we are getting into a groove.  Roy's behavior is showing improvement.  To our delight - we really think he is starting to understand us.  We have given him very simple instructions & he does it.  It makes our hearts soar!  We are making progress!  He is trying to say a few things.  So far, he seems to have mastered: 

 

uh-oh

Bu-Bye, Cya

Choo Choo!

Dadda

Mama (very rarely though)

Toot Toot!!!  Boys will be boys!

 

With all this being said, we are very encouraged - however, he will start speech therapy after the new year.  We think this is great - it can only get better from here.  :-)

 

It has been fun getting to expose Roy to some "Firsts".  I especially cherish them since we missed soo very many other "firsts" in his life. 

 

His First snowfall!

 

 

 

Surprisingly, he did not have a strong reaction to it.  Perhaps he was thinking it was overrated considering it took us forever to get layered up and out the door!  ;-)  haha

 

His First Thanksgiving! 

 

Our little Indian!  Turns out - he loves cranberry sauce!?!?!? who knew!  :-)

 

His First St. Lucia Celebration!

 

 

He seemed to enjoy all the festivities of the night with his wonderful cousins! He had his first taste of Rice pudding (My Grandmother used to make this all the time & was such a treat!).  He had his first Swedish Meatballs & sauce.  Mmmm - Great night with such great Swedish Food!  Thanks Brubs!  ;-)

 

His First Dress up Experience:

 

 

He actually really enjoys dressing up!  Maddie is just thrilled about this! 

 

His First Piano Lesson from Big Sister Maddie: ;-)

 

 

 

Lastly,  he is wearing HIS favorite new shirt! WINK WINK!

 

 

Surely this must be his FIRST shirt like this, right?

 

We love him sooo much!  He was truly SO.WORTH.THE.WAIT!!!!

 

 

 

 

Six Weeks Since We Met Mr. Handsome...

I can't believe it's been six weeks since we met our son.  Time has flown!

 

 

Oh how we love him!!!!

 

Our Little American Citizen! 

 

 

 

Roy is our sweet, funny, shy, feisty, handsome son.  It's been a harder transition than we thought it would be.  We have good days & not so good days.  At the end of any day - 

I can't imagine any one else I'd like to call my SON.

And So It Begins....

I believe that we are witnessing the beginning of a life long friendship between cousins.

Roy & Matthew are from the same part of China, same orphanage, only 11 days apart in birth!  And now...only living less than 10 minutes from each other. Truly...Truly...on God could have orchestrated that! What a BLESSING!

Roy was not sure exactly what to think of Mr Funny Matthew when he first met him. 

By the second time they interacted...there were smiles and even GIGGLES!!!!  oh how this makes us soo happy!!!

 

This truly is no surprise to us....because their big sisters are best friends too!

 

Maddie & Gracie could literally play for HOURS together & we wouldn't hear a peep from them!

 

 

They just met & already holding hands in above photo

 

 

Cousin Love for sure!

 

And....absolutely none of this surprises me because Kristina & I have been dearest friends/cousins for approximately 35 years!  We are so close & I am just sooo thankful for her.  She is a big support system for all of us (especially me).  I couldn't have filled out 1/2 the China paperwork with out her!  We even flew out of the country ON her birthday, stealing her hubby away for a few hours to drive us to the airport.  She didn't mind at all.  What a true friend!!!  We love you Kristina & THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!

 

CRAZY COUSINS INDEED!

 

 

3 Weeks Later....

Well, we've had Roy in our lives for about three weeks.  In some ways, it feels like years, in others...it feels like only 3 days.

Please keep us in your prayers - to be honest, we are struggling.  In our brains, we KNEW that this time of adjustment would be difficult (for ALL of us), but it's totally different experiencing it.  We absolutely love Roy to pieces - but we can all get frustrated with each other.  The language barrier, the 2 year old typical behavior etc sure does not help.

Madelyn has been so amazing & just loves little Roy unconditionally. I'm sorry to say that he is still warming up to her.  Please pray this happens soon.

I had been doing much better dealing with the Post Adoption depression until yesterday.  The thought of my Mom leaving tomorrow has made me VERY weepy.  When I went through this when Maddie was born, I got over it quicker.  This is taking some time.

I was encouraged today in church while singing this song "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman.  These lyrics were sooo powerful to us:

 

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm

 Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low

 Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

 

And I can see a light that is coming

For the heart that holds on

 A glorious light beyond all compare

And there will be an end to these troubles

 But until that day comes
Well live to know You here on the earth

-----

 

We are truly soo thankful for our relationship with Jesus Christ,  we could not make it through anything with out him.  He will get us through each day, one moment at a time.

 

Love,

Dawn

We're HOME!!!

Yes, we are FINALLY HOME!!!  Hallelujah!  It was a long journey home.  I apologize for not getting anything up on the blog...but as you can imagine, we've been busy adjusting!

 

We left China early Wed morning & arrived home to Newark airport late Wed night.

 

Overall, the flights with Roy went VERY WELL - What a PRAISE!!!!

 

On the long flight of 15hr 40 min, he slept TEN hours!!!  It's a miracle in itself!  We woke him after 10, afraid he'd never get to sleep that night once home.

 

 

 

 

We were so fortunate there were extra seats on the long flight.  Roy was able to stretch out & sleep well. I managed to score 3 empty seats nearby & nap myself!  Ahh...that made for a WONDERFUL flight.  :-)

 

Unfortunately, we had a SEVEN HOUR layover in Hong Kong.  We will NEVER do this again with a toddler.  Roy had not slept well the night before & was very "out of sorts".  We didn't have a stroller, just an ergo carrier.  We couldn't soothe him for the life of us.  Finally, we sat down & just let him "cry it out" for a bit.  Meanwhile, I am also literally crying it out  - I was exhausted & overwhelmed. Mike said he wasn't far behind me there.  Suddenly, this beautiful Chinese Grandma is near us & she keeps trying to help.  She spoke not one word of English. Finally, out of desperation, Mike hoists Roy onto her lap!  She almost immediately calms him down & holds him for 20 minutes.  It was as if they were old friends.  I then cried tears of happiness.  Those 20 min were just what Mike & I needed to get through the rest of the layover.  We do realize we just broke every rule about bonding with your new child.  What can I say....we were in survival mode. 

 

 

Once we got home, my cousin Kristina picked us up & drove us home.  We all stumbled into bed around 2am.  Roy even slept till 7am.  We didn't let him nap the next day and put him to bed at 5:30pm and he slept through to 8am!  I think he is already over jet lag - NO JOKE! 

 

Mike & I are struggling some with jet leg (notice, I'm writing this at 2:40am!)  Considering how bad it could be, we are doing great!

 

Roy is slowly adjusting here too.  He is not sure what to make of Maddie - perhaps competition?  She is soooo doting on him & he stares her down. 

I'm sure in no time, they'll be fast friends. 

 

Happiest news for us is that we have Roy sleeping in a CRIB!!!!  We thought we might have to co-sleep for life!  He doesn't love it, but only takes 5 min to calm him down & get to sleep.  This makes a big difference for Mike & I!

 

Here are some pics of Roy around home:

 

 

We went to our nephews first birthday yesterday where Roy met some of his cousins!

 

 

Here is Roy with his (future) partner in crime, Matthew.  These two cuties are from same orphanage & ONLY 11 days apart in their birthdays!  What a blessing they are to us!!!

 

The siblings - I hope to have more of these soon where they are both happy.  :-)

 

 

 

Finally, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your PRAYERS!  I truly believe we wouldn't have made it with out them.  They mean the world to us.  If I may ask - please keep praying for us during our time of transition.  It's not easy on anybody.  Maddie expected Roy to be snuggling up to her immediately.  I'm happy when he doesn't swat at her.  Maddie is also used to a very fast past lifestyle - we go everywhere!  We need to hang low for a few months & teach Roy we are a family and that he is SAFE here with us.  Of course there is frustration as we have a major language barrier. This makes it extra tough on all of us.  So please....keep those prayers coming!

 

Love,

Dawn, Mike, Madelyn & Roy-boy

 

Picture Catch-up and Please Pray for the Loong trip Home

Hi There...  It's Dawn's Cousin...  :) 

Here's an update on The Rettew Family's travel, and a catch-up on some pics that didn't get posted yet. 

As I type this, Dawn, Mike, and Roy already left their hotel room over 12 hours ago.....

They had a short flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong...  Then a 7 hour layover in Hong Kong. 

Now they are in the beginning of their long flight...  15 hours and 40 minutes long! 

They will arrive in Newark late tonight and it will be EARLY Thursday morning by the time they get home....

So that's over 30 hours of travel all together....  If you're reading this on Wednesday October 29th, please be praying for their travel...for good health, rest, and of course for Roy.  The plane ride is probably the first time he's ever been buckled in anywhere since they don't use car seats in China. 

I know Dawn & Mike appreciate your prayers!!! 

And here are some pics that didn't get posted from Oct. 20-23:

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20TH----GOTCHA DAY! 

TUESDAY OCTOBER 21

 

 



 

 

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWN:) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22 ~ MEDICAL EXAM DAY

 

Roy was not a fan of the Medical Exam.  Who could blame him? 

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY OCTOBER 23-ORPHANAGE VISIT DAY

The orphanage workers are looking at a photo book that I (Dawn's cousin) sent for our son's foster family.  For those of you who don't know, we have a son from the same orphanage as Dawn & Mike's son, Roy...  And our sons are the same age!  We sent a photo album for our son's foster family to see how our son is growing and doing so well.  Dawn said the orphanage workers were so excited to hear that our two boys will now be "cousins" in America!  :) 

 

 

 

With Roy's foster mother

 

 

She loves Roy very much

 

 

 

 

I'M NOT POSITIVE WHICH DAYS THESE PHOTOS ARE FROM.... 

GIGGLES AT THE HOTEL

 

 

CAKE!!!

 

NOODLES!!!