Beijing - Day 2

Today we woke up and headed out for another day of touring.

 Our first stop was a jade factory. 

 It was amazing to watch them carve the jade.  There were so many beautiful things!  

Our next stop was the Great Wall of China. 

  Words cannot do justice to explain that structure. 

 Our children have studied about it this year and talked about climbing it for months. 

 It truly was a dream come true and something to cross off the "bucket list."

  The weather wasn't ideal, but we are so thankful for the opportunity to be here that it didn't dampen our spirits. 

 Once again, we were stopped every few minutes for pictures.

  The kids are really starting to get into posing; it's hilarious.

  After that, we had a delicious lunch. 

 

From there we headed to the Bird's Nest (Olympic Stadium).  

It was so amazing to be there after watching the '08 Olympics religiously.  Then the group went to watch an acrobatic show and Sven & I headed to Lang Fang to MEET OUR SON!

 Lily (the director of the foster home) picked us up and drove us to Harmony House. 

 It is in an inconspicuous apartment-style building. 

 We walked in and heard lots of children, but I didn't see him.  

As we rounded the corner into the main living room, I saw him in the middle of the room by himself.

Hmmmm, I'm kind of at a loss for describing that moment. 

 It seemed so surreal. 

 I couldn't believe how huge he was!  

I knelt down beside him and started talking to him. 

 He stared at me very intently. 

 I picked him up after a couple of minutes and he just snuggled in.  

Every once in awhile he would just stare at me.

 All of the nannies kept telling him (very loudly) "mama" and would point to Sven and say, "papa."  

The poor little guy was very confused and started to cry. 

 I was able to comfort him most of the time.

We took Lucy with us.  

The other children enjoyed looking at her, and Elijah reached out for her hand. 

She wasn't quite sure what to think of him.  

They are exactly the same height, but he's quite a bit more...shall we say, rotund? ;)

Sven was so excited to meet and hold his new son.

 We were able to watch them give him a bath (which he hated) and put him to bed.

 I loved whispering to him how much we love him and how much we have prayed for him. 

 I told him that we couldn't wait to be his mommy & daddy and that we would never abandon him.  

He is sweet and I cannot wait to have him in our family.

 

I mean, I really cannot wait to have him in our family.  

I do love him already and am excited to make many memories together.  However, what really impressed me upon this first meeting was this: he needs us.  

Really, really needs us.  

He needs people to talk to him all day long, to play with him, to pick him up when he cries, to unconditionally love him.

All of those kids need a family.  

 Every.Single.One.  

The little boy who wouldn't let go of Sven's leg needs a family. 

The newborn with down syndrome in the crib next to Elijah needs a family. 

 Unfortunately, it is so difficult to find one that they are sending her back to the orphanage. 

All of the babies in the nursery need a family. 

 The older child, who was once mistreated by his foster parents because of his ADHD, needs a family.

  The 4 year old little girl just begging for attention needs a family. 

 I know you probably clicked on this blog just to see how things were going here and to see our precious first meeting with Elijah, so I apologize for being such a downer. 

 But here's the thing, I can't stop thinking about those other children. 

 I looked into their eyes & held them on my lap and saw those babies lined up in rows of cribs and it just broke my heart. 

 I cannot imagine what it does to the heart of the One who made them and knows that they are each precious treasures.  

So to sum up our time with Elijah: we are in love with him already, can't believe how big he is, are so thankful for his foster home, can hardly wait to call him our own and are now praying for pretty much everyone we know to adopt a child who is in desperate need of a family. ;) 

Could that be you?

Oh, and as much as I know he needs us, we need him as well.
We can't wait until he's really ours.