A new addition to our family!

We use this blog to chronicle the events in our family, and especially to note our kid's milestones, big and small.  And, we have a HUGE event coming up in our family...we are adding another kid!  Back in February, we made the decision to start the process of adopting a child from China.  In May, we got a call...and...found out about our new son!  Here is the first picture we ever got of him...

Xiao Yu (晓雨) was born on January 28, 2013, making him just 7.5 months younger than Gabriel.  We were immediately drawn to his chubby, red little cheeks, and got comment after comment about how cute he is, and how much he looks like Gabriel!  He was 11 months old in the first picture, and all bundled up as it was winter then.

After agreeing to be matched with him, and starting all the necessary processes to bring him home, we were able to get some updates about his health, and size, and some new pictures!  In the photo above, he is about 16 months old, and apparently had gotten a buzz cut.  =)  He lives in a foster home, and seems to be growing and doing very well.  We have finally gotten our official approval to bring him home, and it looks like we will be traveling in January (brrr....).  He will most likely turn 2 while we are there! We are taking Eliana, Karina, and Gabriel with us, and it will be quite the adventure!  Here is the most recent picture we have of our little boy (at 18 months) -- who we are naming Christopher Xiao-Yu.  Xiao-Yu is his Chinese name that was given at the orphanage, and what he has been called for the first two years of his life.  We are naming him Christopher, but will most likely continue calling him Xiao-Yu (and will keep Xiao-Yu as his middle name), as that is what our kids "know" him as, and what he knows his name to be.

Now that we have our official Letter of Approval, we are getting ready to travel in about 10 weeks.  There are lots of forms and documents to prepare before we get final clearance to go and bring him home.  We are really hoping this will all happen smoothly, so that we can go before Chinese New Year, which is in mid-February this year.  As I said, we are ALL going.   We are even bringing an "extra" -- our niece, Erica.  She is in her late twenties, and is going to serve as our extra hands and feet!  We aren't sure how we are going to keep track of 4 children 6 and under, plus who knows how many suitcases and backpacks, in bitter cold weather!!

 It is a 2.5 - 3 week trip, which will have us in 3 different cities.  After the 14 hour flight (ugh!) we will start in Beijing for a few days of sightseeing, and trying to get everyone over jet lag.  We have plans to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and maybe some Olympic stuff.  It all may depend on the weather, though.  From there, we will head to Zhengzhou, which is the city where Christopher lives.  This city is in north central China, in the province of Henan.  We will be given custody of him the first day, and then have 24 hours to "decide" if will adopt him.  We return the next day to sign his paperwork, and he will be ours!  (This is very exciting for us...but will be very very scary for a 24 month old, who doesn't know us, and won't understand why his foster family has given him away.)  We need to stay in Zhengzhou for 5 days, to process his passport application, and pick it up.  We then travel to Guangzhou, which is in southern China, quite close to Hong Kong, to do the US Consulate part of his paperwork.  We will need to spend about 5 days there, getting Xiao Yu's medical exam done at the Consulate, applying for his visa to enter the US, and waiting for that to be issued.  After that, we finally return home...via another 14 hour airplane trip, with 4 tired and overwhelmed littles along!

While we are very excited to have Xiao Yu home, and really looking forward to getting the process going of having him adjust to our family, and helping him and Gabriel navigate the new water of virtual pseudo-twinness, there is a lot to do to get ready to go!  Last week, our kids all got their typhoid shots, which was an amazing experience to see just how loud they can scream in panic and terror.  Karina kept saying, through her hysterical tears, "I don' t want to go to China, I don't want to go to China".  As soon as it was over (within 10 seconds) she was fully recovered.  Phew!

We will keep posting updates as we receive them about how Christopher is doing, and also how the trip planning is coming, and for sure as we travel through China!