A new year, a new kid

A new year:  update on Gus

Gus has now been home 7 months.  He has grown 3 inches and gained 5 pounds.  The changes we have seen are incredible since he's been home with us.

He's went from a weak, shy, nervous, cautious little boy to strong, charming, bold, daring, and happy little guy.  He used to drool so much, that we'd change his bib 2-3 times a day, he had terrible constipation issues and often made very loud noises and tried to attract a lot of attention when he was doing his "potty" job (thinking it was from the orphanage, to get nannies attention, he needed diaper changed), I couldn't be too far away from his site or he'd panic and cry, any transitions were uncomfortable for him, I was  nervous to take him out to stores, etc, for fear of a "fit" happening. 

He now goes to daycare and has many friends, he loves to go shopping with mommy, he loves to visit people and hang out with his grandparents, he has no drooling issues, his stomach issues are pretty much gone, he loves the library and museum and experiencing new things daily.   He used to hate the camera and now takes selfies and loves to see himself on the video's.    He's funny, charming, and so smart.  

I cannot believe we've been home 7 months and I'm sure I'll say this over and over each month that passes, but it is really, really surreal.  

We are waiting to get our "Christmas" cards and thank you cards done, still.  Ridiculous how time passes by so quickly when you want to get things done in a timely manner.   Stay tuned.

Here's our smiley little boy  now.  

Update

About 6 weeks home...here's GUS.

I am still working on making our slideshow and updating our entire story of our journey to China, but for now....here's him now.

About 6 weeks ago, in China, this little boy was somber faced, didn't smile much, was weak, was wanting to be held most of the time, and pretty quiet. 

Being home has transformed this little orphaned boy into a charming, happy, silly, smiley, loving and playful little boy.  He loves people, loves to run and play, loves to be outside, loves to eat, loves to give and receive hugs and likes to try new things.

He just turned TWO on August 23rd.  

We truly believe that God picked our Gus just for our family.  He fits.  

We celebrate his life, our journey to him, and God's faithfulness to bring us all together.

Glory to God, always.

-the lowlands

Shanghai and our little Gus

Last day in Shanghai

This post is long overdue, and I know most of you have seen our updates on Facebook, but here's for you who have not.

Here he is:

August Jingfan Rowland

We are pretty much over the moon for him.

Ben and Maddie have been incredible this entire journey and they love their little brother so much.

I will post all the details of our journey soon, but for now we are just spending time bonding with Gus.  

He is sleeping well through the nights, so far.

He is very attached to his bottle, likes to sleep with his arms over his head, loves to be held (good arm workout), and is starting to smile and laugh a bit.

Today, we fly to Guangzhou to where the US consulate is and is where we do all his medical check, get his visa, and finish paperwork so he can enter the United States.

Our chinese adoption was official two days ago.  That was quite a process, but very special too.

Shanghai is an incredibly beautiful city.  We will post pics and video very soon.

We are all doing well and are so thankful we are on this journey, we cannot imagine our lives without this sweet boy.

Love to you all.

The Rowlands

Today is the day

Today, is finally, the day.

At 7:12 a.m. we will be bound to Dallas and then at 11:25 a.m. we will be flying across the world to meet our precious little son.  

Today, we all arose in our hotel room with 4 hours of sleep yet rearing to GO.  

The last time my daughter was on an airplane was when she was just 7 months old, so this whole experience is quite overwhelming and exciting to her.

Both kids are nervous and mention this fact often.  I admit, I have been pretty stable emotionally and just committed to keeping everything in ORDER, so it's good that my mind has been distracted all this time.

There is a season for everything and I anticipate that at some point, soon, I'll be an emotional mess, but for now, I'm thankful to own my organizational skills.    

Please pray over our trip, our health, our son who will be in our arms on June 27th.   Without prayer, this would be a whole other kind of trip.  

Thank you ALL for your support each step of the way.  We couldn't do this without each of you.

We will update you more in Dallas, and then it may be a while before we get connected to update once in country.

Love you all.

-the lowlands

2 Days and counting

Here we are, another day closer to wheels up.

Today, my daughter paid for us to get our toes all pretty at a nail salon, and a friend met us as well, so that was special.  So nice to be able to relax a bit, something I don't often do.  LOL

We've done all our last minute packing list items and will be spending the rest of day at home getting suitcases ready for final inspection.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting our itinerary, so you can follow along our day by day in China.

Until tomorrow.....

Counting Days

The countdown.....

Here we are, just 3 days from lift off to China.

On June 22nd at 7:25 a.m. we depart from our airport and fly to Dallas.  We arrive in Beijing June 23rd at 2:58 p.m  

Beijing skyline.

It's very very surreal that we will be HERE in just days.  Today, at our church, our pastor shared Phillipians 4: 6-7

Let's be clear:  Those who know me....know how I WORRY about everything.  I have many anxieties about this trip , the unknowns, our child who will be taken away from all he's known for two years and placed with us (strangers to him), the health of our kids and us, and so on.  We will be in CHINA, so very far away from our comfort of home and our lives here.

It's something I deal with daily and today, I was reminded of who GOD truly is and how He is our protector and He's got us in the palm of his hand, just like a dad with his child will often comfort a scared or hurt child and reassure them, "I've got you.  It's O.K."  

The peace of God is SO MUCH BIGGER than we can even begin to imagine, so we  need not waste time on worrying away any moment.  So today, I am praying this verse on me and I'm asking others to join me.

I'm praying that I hear God's voice telling me....

"I've got this.  You're O.K."

Prayer requests:  

Our kids (Ben and Maddie) as they are feeling nervous.

Health of our family and for little Gus.

Safe travels

Transitions (for August to feel our love and desire to keep him safe in our care).

Blessings from our family,

The Rowlands

Less than a week

Less than a week until G-O time

With only 6 days left, my heart is anxious for sure.  I'm surprisingly not emotional yet.  I'm trying so hard to just keep everything in check for packing, not missing a beat.  I suppose that is why I'm holding back the flood of tears.

I keep thinking about my two kids, Ben and Maddie and how they are going to be on this trip.  I think about what they must be feeling, their excitement and their fears of so many unknowns.  

I think about little Gus and wondering how he will adjust when these strangers come on june 26th, to take him away from all he knows as his home and caretakers.  

I think about that very first moment when we all see him.  I know we can never be fully prepared, and can have no expectations, but my heart is beyond anxious to just SEE HIM.

I'll be updating daily before we leave and then it may be a little while until we have time to send pictures, etc while we are in country.

Your prayers , thoughts, well wishes mean the world to us. 

Blessings,

The Rowlands