Day TWO with Andrew

Today started very early-1 am China time--Sleep was not to be found with Andrew and Anna Grace in bed with me-Andrew woke up every 30 minutes from 9pm until 1am. At 1:30, I gave up and got up. Andrew and Anna Grace started their day with cheerios, juice and Barney. They sat in bed together watching the DVD player-So sweet. Andrew is in love with the Barney that Jodi gave Anna Grace. We have already had to replace batteries :)

At 8 this morning, we went to the Civil Affairs office where we finalized our adoption of Andrew Hudson Jian Hui. We are officially a Forever Family. We have been in our hearts since June of 2009, but today it became official in the eyes of China. We promised to love and care for him and to never abandon him. He slept in Hal's arms while we were there and it was some precious time of reflecting on how blessed we are. He is just precious. Perfect in every way. All boy but so loving too. He freely kisses us and once he woke, he enjoyed running from my arms to Hal's arms. He is still very attached to the car we gave him in his backpack. He will not put it down. I am glad I brought two. One was for Hayne, but Hayne has gladly given it to his brother.

We met with the orphanage staff and learned a few things about Andrew. His best friend is one year older than him, and he is still waiting for a family. This will be our newest prayer. That Andrew's best friend will be found by his forever family. We were given a picture of Andrew dated 12-9-06. All the Glory goes to God. The surgeons who treated Andrew did a beautiful job on his lip. It is unbelievable. I am so grateful for this picture of him. Each piece of his history is priceless. We did receive 2 disposable cameras from the orphanage and Hal is gone to pick up the prints now. We sent one in July and one in December so I am hoping the pictures are of 2 different times.

Andrew and Molly Claire share a special connection. We could not help but laugh out loud as they communicated. There were lots of hits, pouty lips and tossing of toys. It is obvious that they are used to each other. The funny part is they never stop. They take a lick and just keep on playing. It is just precious. I am so amazed at how God orchestrated these two friends to have a bond that will last forever and be so close to each other. We are only one hour apart at home so they will have lots of time together.

Tonight was Pizza Hut in the room. The boys have left to try out McDonalds since our pizza was covered in corn, mushrooms, onions and some unidentifiable objects. I am exhausted and heading to bed.

We are amazed at our blessings. In just one day, Andrew has opened up and began to show lots of affections. He prefers Baba for sure. He gets mad that Mama tries to make him sleep. Keep praying that sleep will come and we can all rest. Anna Grace has been asleep since 12 today and she will not get out of bed-It is going to be a long night or early morning-Depends on your mood :)

Tomorrow is the Great Wall-Should be interesting with 2 toddlers-Can't wait! The kids are thrilled about shopping at The Jade Factory and so is mommy!
Good night from China

ANDREW DAY!!!

Today has far exceeded ALL of my expectations-God is Good! He is faithful at ALL times! We have Andrew and he is precious! We met the children at 9:50 am on the 21st! What a special day this will always be! I know in my heart that my papa was looking down and smiling as we finally had a reason to rejoice on this day!

We all congregated in the 9th floor lobby to wait for the children to arrive. Jane(our agency coordinator) met us with our guide. It was great to visit with her. At 9:40, our guide, Helen, got a call that the babies were arriving. She asked Ashton if she wanted to go downstairs with her. Imagine Ashton's joy as she, Madison and Taylor accompanied Jane and Helen to meet the children. We all stood in the hallways and surprised several hotel guests with cameras and videos as we thought it was the kids arriving. It was so special. The elevator opened and around the corner came all 4 of the kids. Andrew and MollyClaire had on matching pants and red jackets. It was a moment where time stood still. He walked straight into my arms. Unbelievable---I had prepared myself to sit back and allow him time to accept us. Instead, my son stepped straight into my arms. Within 3 minutes, he let me kiss him. He puckered up and made the sweetest kissing sound. I can't describe the moment. 3 families being joined together in that instant that could only be orchestrated by God. It was miraculous. Ashton was quite thrilled to get her hands on him and get a kiss. Mema captured a beautiful picture of Jie Jie and Andrew. It was a special moment of Ashton seeing all of her prayers answered.
We came back to the room and got to know Andrew. HE IS HUGE! So much bigger than we thought. He loves snacks. We all laughed out loud when he ate cookies-Classic Oreo style-Just like our family. It was so special to skype Nana, Papa, Johnny, BJ and Jesse-It was neat for them to meet him so soon after we did.

Hayne has declared that Andrew is the best little brother ever-He gets lots of laughs out of our little man. Andrew laughs out loud.

A HUGE hit was the microphone that Bobbi sent to Andrew. He loved it. Within minutes of meeting us, he was mimacking me in the microphone. It was priceless. He won't put it down. He just said Haynie into it---WoW!

We went to lunch with our group and he had a ball. We had to request strollers cause honestly he is so heavy and he isn't used to being held. He just lays back and it makes him heavier :) I am not complaining cause I will carry him wherever. The stroller just makes it easier at times. We had a 20 minute walk to lunch-Not fun in the cold carrying 2 toddlers. He ate very well and we were excited.

My big excitement today was when he was playing on the bed. He started talking and whimpering. He climbed in my arms and kept talking. It was his way of telling me he had to potty. I was so glad that he came to me for help.

Anna Grace is doing well. She has handled this so much better than I expected but it has only been a few hours. We have all been awake since 2 am so we are very tired.

Thank you for your prayers-Know that without a doubt, they have been heard and answered. I know that the road ahead is long but I am confidant that the maker of all creation is holding my hand and directing our way.

Signing off from China,
One blessed mommy of 5

5 hours and counting!

Our room is unpacked and everything is ready. We went to bed at 10 and were all wide awake by 2 am-I was sure we would sleep all night because we were so exhausted. Hayne is the only one who is still asleep. Anna Grace and Adam are going strong. They woke up starving In just 5 hours, we will be meeting our little man! I can't believe it-In 5 hours, our dreams will be realized! Our son will be a Forever Part of our family-I can't stop crying-I am so very excited. The backpack of toys is packed, cameras are charged, paperwork is ready-7 months of waiting, praying,and believing is about to come to pass. Our next post will be us as a Forever Family of 7-Thanks for all of your prayers!

Just a quick update....They are in their hotel room getting ready for bed right now. The trip has been 1000 times better so far as compared to last time. The airport had improvements and that was wonderful! Their delay for maintenance yesterday in Chicago only lasted about 30 minutes.

Anna Grace rested well on the flight, but Hayne fought it until about two hours before they landed. He was completely lethargic and they had to carry him through the airport. Angel only dozed off a couple of times, but never really slept. She said the boys refused to let her rest because they were so excited. Hal slept well, but Adam fought sleep the entire flight. I am not sure about Ashton, but she sounded exhausted in her email and said she couldn't wait to go to sleep.

They stopped at a Chinese restaurant for dinner before they went to their hotel room and were surprised at how tasty everything was. The hotel room's heat was so unbearable that they had to get the hotel maintenance to break the seal on the window to get it to open to the chilling outdoor weather of 10 degrees. It really must have been HOT in there! Mary helped bathe the children and got them ready for bed while Angel "unpacked" or rather organized their luggage a little better. There wasn't a dresser or chest in the room to put their clothes in. Strange!

When they wake in the morning they will eat breakfast (if they can) and meet Andrew from 9:00 to 9:30 am. That will be between 8:00 to 8:30 pm for us TONIGHT!!! Social workers in China spoke with the family and told them to be prepared that this event would be harder than they probably expected because of Andrew's age. Please pray that their meeting will be peaceful and happy for everyone. This is really it! Today is the day! I will update as soon as I have something from them after they have the newest addition to the Rice family! A new son! A new brother! A new Grandson! A precious soul that will be a part of all of our lives! ~jodi

The Rice family in the Chicago Airport with travel friend AnnaGrace (a precious little girl who, along with her family, is going to get her little sister in Beijing).

Hi everyone! This is Angel's friend & sister from another mother, Jodi, blogging on her behalf. First of all I am thrilled that she asked me to do this for her! Anything I can do to help I am more than willing to do! She plans on sending me emails and pictures and I will post them on this blog. This will count as my test blog to work the kinks out of blogging on her blog for her. Hope this works! I might as well give everyone an update at the same time!

I talked to Angel (YEAH!!) and they were in Chicago for a short layover. They were making their way through the airport to get some "fabulous" airport food when I last spoke to her. Everyone's doing fine, but already tired (as expected). Poor Angel only got 4 short hours sleep last night! Not too much longer until they are off to Beijing! Their flight leaves at 1:45 pm (our time) and they will be in the air for 14 hours!

She said that the kids were wild already! Surely they are just filled with anxious excitement about the trip and meeting Andrew very soon! They are usually an energetic group anyway (never a dull moment), but now they are fueled by the lack of rest and probably a lot of candy at this point. Please pray that a comforting peace will hush the excitement from their mouths, bodies and minds and that they are swept away by sleep for hours on end to make the trip go by quickly.

Keep them on your minds and in your prayers - for the days ahead will bring unique challenges and blessings.

Prayer Request

We are just hours away from boarding our plane to China. Just a couple of days away from meeting our new son. I can't believe the time is here. I would like to share some very specific prayer request with you.
Please pray:
*For Andrew's heart-That he is ready for his family--it is going to be the most difficult for him and our prayer is that God has prepared his heart for us
*Safety for traveling-Hal and I plus all 4 kids and his parents will be traveling alot of hours-Please pray that God protects us and gets us there safely
*Health-Please pray that we all stay healthy while we are gone and that Andrew is healthy
*Nanny Cat-Hal's grandmother broke her hip last week-Please pray for healing for her and that she improves daily-It is very hard for Hal's dad to leave her right now-so please pray that he has peace
*My parents-My parents are staying here and holding down the business for us-please pray for peace for them and that all goes smoothly
This is the journey of a lifetime. I feel like the most blessed woman in the world. I am so happy that this is the journey that God has led us on. I can't wait to meet Andrew and have all of my children together. I am so grateful for my life and for all of the friends and family who have joined us on this journey. We covet each of your prayers and please know that we will depend on them daily to get us through.
In closing, I want to give all the Glory to God-who has for now, blessed me with these!
I can't believe this is my last post from the USA! Woo Hoo!

Almost ready!

This is our luggage-All packed and ready to go! Only a couple of carry ons need to be zipped up and we are ready to go! We will be leaving for the airport in just over 16 hours-I cry as I type those words! Our Andrew is right at 3 1/2 years old. His family is almost there! God is Good!