The Last 2 Days

I have not been able to post for the last 2 days because I honestly didn't know what to say. Things have been so hard. Harder than Mike and I were prepared for and at times, most of the time, we felt like we were failing miserably. Parker has been screaming since he arrived. Every moment. Every day - and, just as a reminder - he has been with us since noon on the 20th. When we hold him. When we sit with him. When we walk with him. Every single second. The kids have done great. Mike and I have not. But, this afternoon we had a glimmer of hope or perhaps a glimmer of who Parker is. We were at the end of our ropes and we decided to go for a walk. When we got outside, Parker stopped crying and actually played in the garden with Harrison and Piper. He was acting like a normal child and, most importantly, he was not crying or screaming. It was then we knew he would be ok and we just needed to make sure we would be ok dealing with everything until Parker felt comfortable with us. Tonight there was still crying, but it is different. The screaming seems to have stopped. Mike and I are still exhausted, but our spirits seem a little better. I will try to post some pictures and a more positive update after Harrison watches his nightime movie.

Parker Michael - Iphone Pictures

The picture above is the crib that the kids decorated with their animals for Parker. The notes we have on Parker state that he sleeps with his foster mom, "Ma," so we will probably move the crib out later today.

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We had to wait until noon, so while we waited, the kids got in bed together and talked about how they would act when Parker came. Unfortunately, we were not anticipating the level of terror he had when we came :(

This is how Parker was for the first hour or so, when I was not trying to hold him. He thinks his foster mom, "Ma," is in the closet and he bangs on it and looks through the crack screaming and begging her to come get him. When I open the door, he crumbles to the ground and screams. This is so hard to see. The kids did great - we took them out for two breaks, but other than that they were here. The only good aspect to this is that he obviously loves Ma very much so hopefully attachment will go well after he grieves.

Parker came to us in the traditional Chinese winter outfit - many many many layers of split pants. He even is wearing the big bib quilted overalls. He was fighting me the whole time I was trying to get him undressed. I would have given him more time, but it was so hot in here and he was so hysterical that I was afraid he was going to throw up. He seemed to feel better once I got off the 4 quilted layers.

Once I got him undressed (the kids were on a break) I put him in just a t-shirt to cool down.

More of our morning - sorry the pictures are so bad. We only have our IPhone since our camera broke. Uggh!

After the bath, we set him down in the bed and he FINALLY stopped crying. Poor little guy is just heartbroken and terrified.

Mike was the first one to be able to break through to him and it happened over a pair of Sponge Bob shoes. I had showed them to him, but he hit them out of my hands. Mike tried about 30 minutes later and he let him put them on his feet - all while screaming. We could tell he liked them because although he was screaming, he would rotate his ankles so we could see him.

Do you notice what is in his hands. He came to us screaming and gripping Percy and a cargo train. We had sent them in one of his packages. He has refused to put them down since he got here. When Mike pretends he wants one, Parker screams and puts his hands behind his head. Now that he is sleeping, we can see just how sweet and adorable he is. Thank goodness I brought the Vaseline for those cheeks. They feel like sand paper.

Getting Nervous

The time is ticking and I am getting nervous. The kids are playing and Mike is watching a movie in the bed. Me - I am just randomly pacing.

We get Parker Today!

We get Parker today at noon, which is 11 p.m. EST. The internet is really slow here, but I will try to do a catch-up post while we are waiting for him.

The Great Wall of China

Piper and her Ayes at House of Peace

These pictures are in the exact order of our journey into the House of Peace, where Piper lived for a year. I wasn't sure whether her ayes (nannies) would remember her, but boy was I wrong. Not only did they remember her, but her main aye was in Beijing and immediately rushed to come to Shepherd's Field to see her. They also showed us the 3 pictures they still had on their wall of her. To just say that these women love the kids seems so understated. I am so happy we were able to show them the end result of all of their hard work and compassion.

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As you can see, Piper immediately bee-lined through the house. Then she turned and told me that she remembers.

At first, she was nervous when they tried to hug her and talk to her. They spoke Mandarin to her, but she did not answer in Mandarin. I wondered, but now we know its completely gone.


These were the first few hugs before I explained to her that they all wanted to hug her and talk to her. Once I took her aside for a bit, she was much better.

Finally, she is more relaxed.

And with this aye, she was really comfortable. Look how perfect they look together. It makes me wonder what she would look like with her birth mother if they were in this pose.

This was one of the pictures upstairs still hanging. Ting Ting is in the photo above her and is stuck in the same situation as Jacob Jai - great family waiting, but an orphanage that will not do her paperwork. The other picture of Piper was one of her and Jacob Jai, but I was getting a little misty eyed at that point that I couldn't take a picture of it.

This is Piper in her old bedroom. She was in a bed like this and seemed to really enjoy going back in her bedroom.

Starting to say goodbye, but then we all gathered later outside/

This is her main aye who came from Beijing to see her. All of the ayes said they couldn't believe how much she has grown and how talkative she is. They said when she was there she was so shy - umm, not so much anymore!

Overall, for me these moments were the highlight of my trip. I loved getting to show Piper where she used to live, but more than that, I really loved being able to see how the ayes reacted to her. Just priceless on so many levels.

Eating in the new dining hall

PHF has a new dining hall and school since we visited in 2009 and both are amazing. Here are some pictures of our lunch at the new dining hall. To learn more about this amazing place, please visit www.chinaorphans.org and consider being a monthly sponsor.