Arrival of Our Newest Bramlett

Sorry this post  is so late...it's like any other time you throw a kid in the mix, things take a lot longer. So the first few pictures are from "Gotcha Day".  What an emotional day.  We all met down in the lobby of the hotel at 9:30...everyone was packed and ready to go.  We headed to the registration office where we would all meet our kiddos for the first time!

When we arrived, 3 little girls were already there waiting for their families.  One was pretty calm and the other two were screaming their pretty little heads off!  I started crying right away as well.  It's a lot to take in.

About 20 minutes into the waiting, our rep told us that our little boy and the orphanage officers that were bringing him had missed the first train because there were too many people.  She said we would be meeting him back at the hotel around 12:30.  This allowed us to be able to video and take pictures for other families just receiving their sweet babes.  Every single  one was emotional, and their were 6 of them.

We waited in our hotel room for the phone call.  Othere people waited in the little lobby on our floor right next to our elevator. We waited......and waited....and waited, for what seemed like forever.  About 12:50 the phone rang...and we headed out the door to go meet our son.  When those elevator doors openned, I was a mess....the orphanage officers could tell who his new mama was immediately!!  I had been waiting for this moment for so long....or so it seemed.  He smelled so good!  He didn't cry or show any emotion really....he is one that tries to hold it together.  I could see tears welling up in his eyes, but he never full on cried till hours later. It wasn't how I was planning on meeting my son, but it was so much better.



 

This was yesterday, the day after "Gotcha Day", and that piece of paper states that he is officially a Bramlett!!! How exciting, a day that we have been praying for has come full circle.  Isn't he just a handsome little guy?

We would covet your prayers...yesterday was hard on Morris and I both, I'm just the one that can't hold myself together.  I know he is bonding, especially to me, but the only time we really see any personality at all is at meal times.  He seems pretty depressed and out of it most  of the time, and everytime we head back to the room it usually is worse.  Just pray for his little heart....it's gone through so much already.  Pray that he will learn to trust us and over time feel safe to be himself with us.  We know there is no quick fix....his world has been turned upside down, but my heart aches seeing hime like this....pray for Morris and I that we can hold it together and be strong for him. 

We are headed back to his city to apply for his passport.  I am hoping to see his orphanage and possibly getting some pics for other mamas waiting.  Not sure if it will happen, but we are going to try!  I think we are also going to try to see the place where he was left, apparently they have a record of it and if it's not too far, then we may be able to go.  It is going to be a long day, an emotional day. 
Please pray for us today as we venture to his city and thank you so much for all of your prayers thus far!

A Little Note to Jett and some Walmart Super Market Sweeps

Today we flew down to Zhengzhou, the capital of the province where our son is from!  I am beyond excited! I literally can't stand it any longer!  Believe it or not they have a Walmart here....we went there and picked Jett up a few foods that he likes.  When we first landed, our CCAI rep gave us a piece of paper that had his schedule and what he ate, as well as different things about his personality!  I can already tell he is going to fit in just perfect!  God knew what he was doing when he picked him for our family! We also picked up some diapers, wipes, and a stroller.  There is another gal that is with our group who is also adopting a little boy and we got them matching strollers! They are the only two boys in our group so I'm pretty sure they'll be buds! 

I will also say that we have a pretty awesome group...I am so glad that there are other families with us on this journey.  They are all so great and we have really started to bond with all of them!

Below are some pics of our plane ride to Zhengzhou and our Walmart shopping experience! I also included a little note that I wrote to Jett while on the plane today.  My heart was and is overwhelmed knowing the things he will face tomorrow.  It helps me to write them out and I hope someday he will be able to look back on this journey and get a picture of not only the things that we did down here, but also, all the emotions that were felt as well! 

Sweet Jett,
Tomorrow is the day we get to meet you for the first time!  Right now Mama and Daddy are on a plane, flying down to your province.  We left all the tourism and distractions of Beijing and are on our way to get you...the real reason why we came to China!  I was hoping to get a little shut eye on this flight to Zhengzhou, but my mind is racing....there are no distractions, nothing to do, so I sit here and think of meeting you, precious boy!  It brings me to tears thinking about how you will be packing up soon to come meet us...by now you are probably sensing somthing is up!  All the things you experience tomorrow will be brand new, strangeg, and frightening.  All I want to do is hug you and tell you that it is all going to be okay.  I'm sure we won't be of much comfort the 1st day and night, or even the 2nd, but I hope you will know very soon how much you are loved...how much we loved you even before we saw your sweet face...how much you are prayed for and loved by so many family and friends...and even more, how much you are loved by your Heavenly Father.  We have gone to great lengths to bring you home and adopt you into our family, but He has gone to even greater lengths to adopt you into his eternal family.  I pray with all my heart, that above all else, you will know this to the deepest core of your being.  That you will love and follow him with everything you've got!
He has orchastrated all of this....not one bit of this journey has gone untouched by his hands.  We love you so much and we are so excited to be your forever family! We will be forever changed by you!

Love,
Mama

The Great Wall of China

Well, I've already tried to write and post this blog about 3 times and I am out of patience! I will just let the pictures speak for themselves!

 At the bottom ready to start the trek!

Morris about half way up...the mountains were breathtaking!

Notice that the climb is pretty steep...and the stairs were never the same height.

A view from the top.

We made it....finally!

Eva Means....I know you would fully appreciate that I treated myself to an ice cream bar on the way back down....yes, that's correct, I ate ice cream on The Great Wall of China!  You know you would've to Eva! I'll have to show you the picture when I get back since I haven't downloaded it yet...or maybe it'll be in some random post!

 

 





"My Dogs Are Barking Today"

Today we saw pretty much everything except The Great Wall of China!  There probably won't be too many words to this post, mostly pictures...and you will see why I titled this blog, "My Dogs Are Barking Today"! These pictures won't do any of these places justice, but I'm sure you will get some idea of how much history is here in China!  I am loving that I get to see all of this and hoping that Jett will one day experience it too! Hope you enjoy!

The Forbidden City - They started building it in 1406 and it was finished in 1420.

At the south entrance of the Forbidden City

 One single slab of stone

This is how people carry backpacks over here....and he is fanning himself with a fan.  Once again another great look for Morris!

A rickshaw ride and lunch with locals - I think this was by far my favorite part of the day!  We were able to see how people live in most areas here in Beijing, and probably most of China.  The food that the local family prepared for us was by far the best food we've had so far....I don't think I could ever get sick of eating it!

 Yes, they really do sleep in their rickshaw...I'm guessing it's between rides!

 A family taking care of their baby.

 At lunch with our group.

 Had to post a better pic of the style down here!

On the same street there are so many nice cars like this one....

and then there are also women doing their laundry in buckets.  Our guide was telling us that you can tell who are the wealthier families and who are commoners by how many beams there are above the door to their home and how many steps there are leading up to the door.  So crazy!

Tian'anmen Square - This was pretty amazing as well.  So much history.

This was one big TV and there was another one just beside it!

Peking duck for dinner - So I've heard Peking duck is great....and it was, but it was way over priced. However, at least we can say we tried it and we tried it in China!  The strange thing is after the chef is all done cutting it up in front of you and putting the meat on the plate, he then proceeds to cut the ducks head in half, rip off the beak, and lay it open on another plate with the brains of the cooked duck in full view!  Not my favorite thing to look at while eating my dinner!

 In front of the restaurant.

I'm sure now you know why I gave this post it's title.....we walked a ton and are exhausted!  My feet are aching and I am more than ready to go to bed!  While walking around today, I couldn't help but notice all the little boys, wondering if they were Jett's age and size!  We have all of Saturday and all of Sunday until we meet him....I can hardly stand it and my heart starts to beat fast whenever I think about it! While I am wanting to meet him so badly, I am enjoying this time I get to spend with Morris, just he and I.  It doesn't happen to often!  

Tomorrow we are headed to The Great Wall of China and then we will see an acrobat show as well! Thanks again for sharing this journey with us!  

We Are Here!!!

We have made it to Beijing!!!! I know we said we were leaving on the 6th, but that quickly changed with a phone call from the hubby!  In the past week he was home for a day and the day he arrived back home he gave me a phone call on his way home from the airport and told me that he would like to try a flight that would be leaving in 4 hours and oh by the way we need to pack in a carry on! Say what???? That about wrecked me! After preparing all week by myself with 4 kiddos to look after, I wasn't sure I could take the news.  But that's what comes with flying standby!  You save A LOT of money, however, you take on A LOT of stress....maybe not everyone, but I do!

We  dropped off the kiddos at my parents house and were off to the airport.  Luckily the plane was running a tad bit late and gave us enough time to get there!  Not only did we make it on, but they upgraded us to first class!!! At this point, this was exactly what this mama needed. I felt like a queen....it was amazing!  A regular size pillow, down comforter, free drinks (as in wine, beer, cocktails...), 2 meals, snacks, and movies galore!  Oh and the seats reclined all the way back, so when you sleep you can lay down flat!  It was an 11 hour date with my husband that went by way to fast!

Sitting next to me was a sweet woman and her 7 month old baby who was so precious and so so cute!  I felt like I should be helping her with something....being without your kiddos is weird.  I really didn't know what to do with myself at first!

We made it to our hotel by the airport.  My godparents said that they would get us a hotel if we were going to be arriving early.  It was such a blessing! Because they are "diamond members" they upgraded us to a suite...it was lovely!!!

We have been able to facetime the kids twice already....and they don't seem to be missing us at all! They've already told us some pretty fun stories about being with "mimi" and "papi" and.  Hoping this time with their grandparents will be something they'll remember forever!

We made our own arrangements and took a taxi downtown to our hotel where we will be staying with 6 other families who are with our agency.

We checked in and decided to do some exploring and it was definitely an eye opening adventure!

We walked around to see if we could find the "noodle place" that our guide had mentioned to us over the phone, however we had no such luck!  We found a McDonalds and decided to try it.....all they had was fish! So we decided to pass and keep walking!  Came to another McDonalds....decided to see if they had anything else besides fish and they did!  I had chicken nuggets with fries and a coke and Morris, he had a grilled chicken sandwich with fries and a coke.  He took one bite and about threw up! Apparently it wasn't quite like the picture, so he just ate the fries!

I'm sure y'all are probably aware of how hot and humid it is over here. Men over here seem to think that pulling up their shirts and letting it rest on their bellies, helps...Morris decided to try it too!!! Such a great look, don't ya think?

Notice the gentleman holding the stroller has his shirt up!

We also ventured over to what they call "snack street" and all I can say is WOW!!!!  I loved how it had so much character....it's what I think of, when I think of China.  However, the smells that lingered on this street were HORRIFIC!!!  I don't know how people can walk up and down this street and be hungry for a snack!!!

 scorpions....

 starfish....

 Reminds me of  Nacho Libre....

 I'm not sure what type of bird this is...

Out in front of the entrance of "snack street".

We are looking forward to eating at the "noodle place" since our guide has showed us where that is.
All in all, it was a great day exploring and we are excited to do some more sight seeing in the morning!

 A catholic church next to our hotel.

 All the women walk around with umbrellas!

 Out in front of our hotel.

Only 4 more days till we meet our little man.  Please continue to pray for us! I will do another update tomorrow evening after our day of touring some more of Beijing! Love to you all!