Our first week home - Whew!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update you all on our week. First of all we went to the pediatrician on Tuesday. All the general tests came out negative (Hep b & c, HIV, unrinalysis, etc.) He was a little anemic, but only slightly. Probably due to poor nutrition. I know that is hard to believe since he is sooo chunky, but enough food and the right kinds of food are not the same. We got those results back yesterday. We also went to the Orthopedic surgeon yesterday – he is a member of our church who is referring him to the Shriners hospital in Lexington. He will probably need some braces that fit into his shoes to correct his feet problems. Apparently his feet malformation is due to the inner muscle of his calf which never developed. However his feet can be corrected by these braces. Praise God for that!

When he goes to Shriners, he will see a whole team of doctors who specialize in spina bifida. There will be an orthopedist, urologist, nephritist (sp.- kidney doc.), nuerologist, etc. We will see all these specialists in one day and return home. Hopefully next week we will know when our appointment is. Dr. Burch thought we could get him in in about a month or two, but we will know soon enough. We still have lots of things to do here anyway. He has to have a hearing and vision test and also has to start all over with his immunizations. We got him started on vitamins with iron yesterday. I don’t think he will need them long. Last night I sautéed some broccoli in butter in garlic and he ate a huge amount of that – more than I could eat!!

He will also need some physical and occupational therapy which we will contact the school system for. Since we homeschool, I think they will come to the home for that. I am not sure, but I think he might possibly need some speech therapy some where down the road. He is coming along with his English! He can say: please, thank you, amen, eye, ear, nose mouth, tongue, hair, chin, shoe, mama, baba, gigs, get down, bye bye, milk, yeah (yes), nite-nite, I love you, outside and sit down. He understands much more that this, but is not able to verbalize it yet.

As far as sleeping goes, he has been sleeping in the floor of our bedroom for the last week. We started Thursday putting him in his bed for his naps (which happens to be the only day he has had a nap at home). The rest of his naps happen in the car while taking the other kids to and fro. Today we will purchase bed rails for his bed and maybe begin putting him in his bed at night on Sunday night. He is doing better at going up and down the stairs. He doesn’t even try to walk down them anymore since he realized how fun it is to scoot down!!

He is loving his new toys. We have purchased a trike for outside and a ride on toy for inside. We are looking for a used wooden swing set with a slide. We have also bought him some toys that will help with motors skills and thinking processes. So far we have gotten a Mr. potato Head, the square toy where you have to fit the shapes into the right place, stacking toy, magnetic numbers for the fridge and a see and say farm animal toy. We had some hand me down BIG legos from the boys and he has loved playing with those!! All of these toys have really helped him with using his hands and thinking things through. He has progressed so much in a few weeks. It is amazing to watch!!

Update on Joshua with the dog: They love each other – most of the time. Gigs will let Joshua pet and kiss her. She will let him throw her toys for her to fetch. She will even roll over on her back for him to rub her stomach! The only time they don’t get along is when he has something like a broom in his hand – just let your imagination run wild and you can picture it! He especially likes to zip her up in her kennel! He locked me out of the house a few days ago when I was letting her back in! Everyone was asleep and I had to walk around the house on the crunchy, pokey grass barefooted to hopefully find another door unlocked!! Needless to say I did get in the house and I was really glad I was not in my pajamas!!

Lawrence is finally over his jetlag. He was really sick all week, but is better now. The rest of us have felt good for about 4 days now.

Thanks so much for your prayers on his behalf and ours! Things are going much more smoothly than we had anticipated and I know that is because so many people have been praying for us and our transition! We love you all and appreciate all the many kindnesses shown to us over the past week!

Love, The Kelley Family

Home and the first 3 days!

Joshua on his new trike!
Joshua opening a present of a handmade blanket and a tooth fairy pillow from Joann and Bud Albers.






Chase and Olivia touching some wall in the Forbidden City. It is said in China that if you touch this wall it means marriage in your future! William did not think he wanted to touch it. He is not really interested in marriage!! - YET!

Sorry I havn't posted in the last few days, but with jetlag, unpacking and catching up it has been too much.





Thursday morning we took the subway to "The Forbidden City" and Tienam Square. Went back to the hotel and packed up to go to the airport. We had to take two taxis!! We made it fine and the taxis stayed together - believe it or not.



Our trip home was uneventful. We left Beijing at 3:45 in the afternoon and got to Newark at 5:20 the same afternoon!! Is that weird or what? It was a 13 1/2 hour flight in which Joshua slept about 9 hours of that! Benadryl helped a little!! It did not work for the rest of us though! We got to Newark rechecked our luggage and made it to the next gate with about 1o minutes to spare! Enough time for Lawrence to go and purchase two small pizzas and one large drink for all of us to share and guzzle down quickly before boarding our next plane! Our flight to Nashville was a little late leaving (about 40 minutes), but we still arrived in Nashvill at 9:10 p.m. on shedule. We collected our luggage called the hotel to come and retreive us and we got in our car about 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. We were all starving and we got some fast food and started home. Joshua did not mind getting into the car seat at all! He adjusts to everything so easily.





We got home around 11:30 p.m and were welcomed by balloons, cards, gifts and most importantly food!! We were blessed to have several families purchase milk, bread lunch meat, drinks and snacks for us and some other families bring us casseroles ready to bake!! They have been really helpful to us as we have struggled with jetlag the last few days! We went to bed about 1:30 am on Friday morning. I got up around 10 and everyone else got up around 12 or 1 p.m. Lawrence went to the office, I ran some errands which included adding Joshua to our medical insurance and buying him a tricycle. That night we all went to bed around 10 p.m. Some of us slept well (Joshua - 15 hours and Chase - 10 hours) the rest of us had a hard night.





Satuday night again - Joshua and Chase slept well and the rest of us did not!





Today - Sunday- was great to be with our family in Christ! Joshua did really well in bible class. I stayed with him and he wanted to do everyting everyone else did. Lawrence preached a lesson on the spirit of adoption and we came home ate lunch and took a 2 hour nap!!





When we first got home Joshua was terrified of the dog! We have made great strides in the past 3 days! Yesterday he saw me throwing the dogs toy and Gigs bringing it back and he decided he wanted to throw it to her. He still did not want her to touch him, but he did want to play with her.





Today he is petting her and playing with her a lot. He is still a little afraid of her but is adjusting quickly!!





Tuesday we will take him to the pediatrician. We will hopefully get a referral to an orthopedist (Doc. John) and hopefully go to Shriners soon to have him evaluated. He is a clumsy walker and has a hard time going up and down the stairs. We are teaching him to crawl up and scoot down. He is sleeping in our room at night. He starts out on the floor and ends up in our bed by around 2-3 a.m. We will eventually get him in his room, but need to make sure he is comfortable with his surroundings and can get up and down the stairs easily.





Thanks for all of your comments. We have enjoyed going over them and reading them! Joshua will be glad to read them as he gets older!! He will be glad to know he has such a wonderful family - both spiritual and physical - and that they were all praying for him and waiting for his coming to the US!





As our plane landed in Newark, NJ, I was struck by the fact that he was now a US citizen and the freedoms that will bring in his life that he otherwise would never know. However, I am more grateful and struck by the fact of the freedoms he will have in a relationship with Christ that otherwise he may not have ever known. We rejoice in his coming into our family and are so appreciative of everyone accepting him so joyously!! Praise God for his mercy, compassion and goodness.

We love you all and thank you for your support throughout this journey! We will still be updating photos and stuff about Joshua's medical progress periodically so keep checking!!

Take care! Love, All 6 Kelley's

Beijing

Our flight was cancelled this morning. It was supposed to leave at 8:30. So they reticketed us for 9:30. That flight was delayed due to mechanical failure. We finally left for Beijing at 10:30. We arrived in Beijing around 1:30. By the time we got our bags and got to the hotel it was about 3:00 p.m. We found out when we got to the hotel that instead of 40 minutes to the Great Wall it was 2 hours. There was no way we could go today! We were sooooo disappointed! Then we decided we would go to the Forbidden City and Tianmen Square. We looked for about an hour - walking and subway and never found it. The taxi would not take us because there was 6 of us. His limit must be 4 people. We ate KFC and came back to the Hotel. We will try again in the morning on fresh legs! I think we will take the subway next time.

Although greatly disappointed about not seeing the Great Wall, that was not our purpose of this trip. We have done what we came to do and anything else is just like icing on the cake! We are coming back with the biggest treasure there is! We are all so ready to be home and cannot wait until we touchdown on US soil!

We are going to go to bed early tonight and rest up for our long trip home. I think it should be about 20 hours total. Last time it was about 26 hours. This time we don't have a 5 hour layover and that helps a lot! This is definitely our last post until we arrive home. We look forward to seeing you all. Hopefully jet lag won't be too bad! Can't wait to see everyone! Have a great day!
Love,
The Kelley's - Lawrence, Janice, Chase, Olivia, William & Joshua

Last Day In Guangzhou!

The four families in our group with All God's Children.

Photos of our kids in front of this large sailboat made of Jade at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.






Joshua and William having a little "brother time".








Joshua and Josiah on the red couch.


Joshua in his outfit for the oath ceremony.






The jade sailboat at the White Swan.
Joshua and me on the red couch!








Tomorrow morning we leave for Beijing very early. We arrive in Beijing at 11:30 a.m. and hopefully will get to go and see the Great Wall in the afternoon after we check into our hotel. We will be there one night and return home the next afternoon. We are soooo looking forward to coming home.







We had a great day today. The four families in our group went and had the "red couch" photo made today at the White Swan hotel. This is a tradition for adoptive families. We also went to the swearing ceremony today where we had to swear that all information we have given is true and accurate and that we will never leave or abandon this child. That was an honor and pleasure to swear to.







When we touch ground in the US Joshua will become a US citizen. I thought it was today, but it will be Thursday, August 30th! We are so excited and can't wait for that moment. We will fly past the statue of Liberty and then land in Newark NJ and fly home to Nashville about two hours later. We cannot wait! We are all already putting requests for our favorite food items. I personally am so excited to go and use my massage gift card which Lawrence gave me for Valentines Day! I am glad I waited!!







We are also anxious to check on all of our pets! We have adjusted to having four children already! We already love it! Olivia and I are already hoping to come back and rescue a little girl! And yes, rescue is the right word! Every child deserves to have a home and a family that loves them. I felt like this would be the same as delivering a child in that you soon forget about all the pain and trouble of being pregnant and just think about the wonderful blessing of a child. I hope that anyone considering adoption will know and understand that this is an incredible gift from God for both parties. Love abounds in all of our hearts for our new son who is already bringing so much joy to our hearts.




This could be our last post until we get home. I am not sure what kind of internet options we will have at the hotel in Beijing, but if this is our last post we will see you in the US - God willing!
We look forward to seeing you on US Soil!! Two more nights in China than my own bed!

May God bless you all richly with His love and mercy. We love you all and have learned much while we have been gone. We are truly blessed beyond measure and most Americans have no idea how much! May the God of peace be with you.

Middle Name

I forgot to mention that we did name Joshua. We had to do that the second day we were in Changchun. So. . . here it is . . .

Joshua Paul Huasuo Kelley

His middle name is taken from Lawrence's middle name Paul.

Let me also tell you all a little more about his personality. He is very active!! He is always trying to get into something he shouldn't. He hides things in his pockets. Anything from food to toys to pieces of paper. He gets very attached to anything you give him. So far he has been attached to a jar of peanut butter, a package of Ramen type noodles, a box of saltines, a bottle of orange juice and a can of pringles potato chips. He has to carry these items (one at a time luckily) where ever we go!! He loves to play anytime!! He loves to laugh and has the sweetest sounding giggle ever! He loves to ride in the stroller and the taxi. He has started to give us all really good hugs.about 3 days after we got him. Before he would just kind of lay on you and feel like a blob! He will give kisses when you ask or just out of the blue now. We have already had to discipline him several times due to direct defiance. It really hurts his feelings and then he gets mad at you and won't look at you, but will make up with you in a couple of minutes. He is a very loving child. He loves to be held. He loves to go all the time. He will fit in really well with our family! God knows what he is doing!

Well, better go eat breakfast! Have a great day!
Love, Janice

Sunday in Guangzhou

Joshua in his traditional Chinese outfit and swim goggles!




Photo in front of the hotel with Zack's mom and dad and Aunt and Uncle.













Sorry about the side view of this photo, but I could not figure out how to turn it on the blog. It is of Shouwa and Joshua. Shouwa is Zack's father.

























Me and Olivia posing with some silly statues.




































Shadow, Durell's friend eating lunch with us and Zack's family.





Zack's mom, Penwin and dad Shouwa. Joshua loves Shouwa.






Joshua's first airplane ride from Changchun to Guangzhou.
More photos of Dinner.





































Ok - Today was Great!! We started out going to a great Western/Chinese breakfast buffet at the Hotel. Then Lawrence met with Shadow for the Chinese church @ 9:30. Shadow took the Subway 2 hours one way to come and be with us. Then we met with the Chinese/English church service at 11:00. It was very interesting to say the least! Then we got back to the Hotel and Zack's family was there. His mom and dad and Aunt and Uncle. They are all such lovely people. His mom and dad took us to a traditional Chinese restaurant and we were well fed. We had a whole room to ourself. We ate shrimp - they are served whole - head and all! We ate chicken - also served whole - head and all!! You should have seen Joshua's face when he saw the chicken head! It was hilarious!! We had mooncake, jellyfish, almonds, broccoli, flounder (also whole), rice noodles, wheat noodles, two kinds of pork, chinese dumplings, tofu(bean curd) and some kind of boiled salad. Everything I tried was good. Then we walked all around Shamin Island and did some shopping with his family! It was good, but they informed us that all the shops around here charge too much!! Then, they wanted to take us to dinner. So, we went to McDonald's for dinner. We had a great time. Zack's Uncle H.L. works in Hong Kong and speaks very good English and he was able to translate for us very well. We had a wonderful day.

We wanted to spend more alone time with Shadow, but did not have opportunity for that today. Possibly tomorrow or the next day we will have more time. She has lots of questions. She is an English teacher and speaks English very well! She went to lunch with us, but had to return home soon after lunch.

Now it is evening and we are going to have our own worship service here in the room before we go to bed. Just wanted to give you all a quick update! Tomorrow we find out about all of our paperwork. If we don't get a phone call between 10:30 a.m. and noon then all paperwork is done and complete. We had a wonderful day spending it with friends. Zack's family rode the train all night 10 hours to come and see us today! How special we feel that they would make such a sacrifice to come and visit with us!! God is so good to us in so many ways!

We leave here on Wednesday and go to Beijing and then Thursday - HOME!! YEAH!! I hope you all have a great week. We love you all and can't wait to see everyone soon!

Love, Janice

Guangzhou - Yeah!!

We made it to Guangzhou on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. We got to the hotel by 3:15 or so. We had about a 6 hour flight. We were quite tired when we got here. I had a terrible headache that was the migraine type that makes you feel extremely nauseated. As soon as we got to the hotel and checked in I had to take medicine and lay down for a while. While I rested, Lawrence and the kids checked out the area. We ordered Papa John's pizza for dinner and went to bed around 10:00 p.m.

Joshua slept until 8:00 am.! WE could not believe it! He had only gotten about a 45 minute nap that day. We had to leave this morning and go to the medical exam at 9:00 a.m. Then at 10:30, we filled out all the paperwork for the American Consulate. WE went to eat lunch at a restaurant called Lucy's. It was pretty close to American food! They did french fries really well. Joshua ate an entire basket and he loved the ketchup with them. He is a big eater. After lunch Olivia and I went shopping. We bought Joshua two traditional Chinese outfits. One was black with red and the other was red with black. One was short sleeve and one was long sleeve. We tried them on him and he did not want to take them off!! We will take photos tomorrow and post them. He looks so cute in them! They are only about $10!! We also bought some souveniors for friends and family. We had noodles in the room for dinner! We can eat those for about $3.00 for the whole family!! We may never have noodles again after we leave China!!

This hotel is called the Victory Hotel. It is very nice. We have two double beds and two kids on the floor with air matresses. We now make Joshua sleep on the floor because he is constantly falling off the bed all night! He is a violent sleeper! One night he fell off the bed at least 10 times! The beds at this hotel are soft! It was so pleasant to be able to sleep in a comfortable bed. Most families stay at the White Swan, but everyone in our group (4 families) did not want to spend that much money on Hotel!

Tomorrow morning we will go to church with a friend of Durell's. After church Zack's mom and dad will meet us at the hotel and maybe eat lunch with us. They are taking an all night train trip to be able to come and see us while we are here. Zack's mother's sister lives here in Guangzhou. We are happy to be able to see them again. I can't believe they will go to so much trouble to see us while we are here, but we look forward to spending some time with them. Hopefully we will have lunch with them and with Durell's friend.

I will try to post some photos tomorrow We did not take that many today! I hope you all are doing well! We look forward to coming home!! THanks fo all of your comments on our blog! Most of all thank you for your prayers and support. We look forward to coming home to Bowling Green and worshipping with our spiritual family. Praise be to God for His people everywhere who shine their lights where they are and do what they can to be an example for others!

Love, Janice