Day 3 with Jacob and Orphanage visit

Hi everyone, this is Mark. Just a quick message from the new dad. Jacob is awesome and what a blessing to our family he has been in the short time we have been together. I thank God for the ability to be a blessing to him as well. It is wonderful to see the little guys eyes light up when one of us hold his hand and walk with him. Joey and him act like they have been best friends their whole life and Amber enjoys watching Annabel and him play like two peas in a pod. For the dads who are still waiting for God's faithfulness in their own family , my suggestion is the wait is worth it. As Tamara will mention in her blog section, there are so many children in this hard world that need a daddies hug. While driving back from the orphanage today I just kept on thanking God for all the gifts He gave me, and only by his grace that not only is Jacob blessed with a big family that loves him but I know I am richer by the having another hand to hold throughout my life.

It's me Tamara. I enjoyed reading Mark's entry. I have wondered today what he thought of the orphanage visit. I think we were both so much in awe that we just had to soak it up rather then talk about it. The drive home from the orphanage was a bit scary as well because it was raining so hard. So we didn't talk much. I think we all just hung on to our seats and prayed for travel mercies. haha Anyway, today was the day. Today was the day I fell head over heals in love with Jacob and he now holds a special key to my heart. I can't explain when it happened or how it happened, but something in my heart just clicked today. The first two days I was just so busy trying to figure him out. It is different with a 4 year old compared to a 16 month old. I am sure it helped a lot that when we got to the orphanage he locked his legs around me and did not want to let go. When it was time to leave he gladly waved goodbye to his nannies. Today he learned the difference between his mama (me) and his China Mama (foster mother). We gave him a photo album full of pictures of him in China. he loves it and is constantly pointing to his foster mother and saying "China mama" and then pointing to me and saying "mama". oooohhhhh (big sigh) It is music to my ears and heart. Today the director of the foster care program went out of his way to meet us at KFC during his break to give us a CD filled with pictures of Jacob over the last 2 years. He said something in Chinese in reference to who we were and that we were his parents. Jacob did just fine and was fine getting back in the van with us. I think they did a superb job of preparing him for us. And praise God that God himself took care of the rest and prepared Jacobs little heart for us. We are learning new things about Jacob every day. it rained today. He hates and I mean hates getting rain drops on him. Oh my goodness you would think the world had just come to an end. haha He is going to love the North West isnt he? We took him swimming last night and he did great. So it isnt water that scares him. it took him a while to get from sitting on the side of the pool to swimming. But it was at his pace and he loved it. he hates dropping food on the ground. He eats every single bite you put in front of him. he is left handed and very very smart. I have been teaching him sign language and he gets it the first time and retains it. His smile lights up the room and I think he has a bit of an outgoing personality like Annabel has. He started saying goodbye to people as we walked by them today in the hotel. He is totally potty trained and tells us when he needs to go. Yea for that one. He sleeps all night so far. Loves to brush his teeth (although he needs a good thorough professional cleaning), is starting to give kisses, is very obedient and well mannered, loves all food, loves to jabber and sing in mandarin even though we have no idea what he is saying, has started tattling on his sister, he sleeps with his shoes on, and most importantly has stolen my heart. I found out today from the nanny and Mike confirmed that Jacob had a very tough beginning. Very tiny and underweight when the police found him abandoned at 6 weeks old. The fact he was abandoned so late in life supports that fact that his parents probably loved him so much and didn't want to give him up but they probably watched him waste away because they weren't equipped to feed a cleft palate/lip child. It is very easy for then to die young if the caregiver doesn't know how to get the nourishment in them they so badly need to survive. His palate and lip repair were done quite late because he was too weak to have surgery. That early malnurishment is likely why he is so small. I don't believe it affected his mind in any way though because he is smart as a whip. You just forget that because he is so tiny that you dont expect him to know the things he knows. But he does. The doctors I have spoken with were very optomistic that once he is home on a high calorie high fat diet he will start to sprout up. I am sure he will never be a basket ball player but from what I've seen in him when he gets mad at his little sister, a foot ball quarterback job might be a possibility. haha Enjoy the pictures. What I dont post tonight I will post tomorrow. We had a long day and I am pretty tired. Tomorrow is our free day. The orphanage loved all the donations for the children. Thank you so much church for helping us make that happen. We found out today that there are 641 children of all ages at this orphanage. So the donations were greatly appreciated. To the adoptive parents of the little ones I got to meet today at the orphanage...you are going to be so blessed. All the kids shown were sleeping when we arrived. The nannies woke them up especially for me to be able to take photos of them for you. All the kids were totally exhausted from waking up but they all had the sweetest little spirits. I got to talk to each one for a quick moment and touch them in some way. A hug, a rub on the arm, a pat on the back. I was able to get a few to smile even though they were very tired. The little child with albanism (i'm sorry I cant remember if boy or girl) came right up to my husband and gave him a hug on his leg. I wanted to take him/her home immediately. So sweet and lovable. It is so hard to tell who were boys and girls because some of the boys had on girl clothes and of course they all had short hair. So I never did figure all of that out. The ones in split pants were pretty easy to figure out. haha They were all so sweet and when they came in the room I was immediately brought to tears with the thought that they are soooooo close to having a family. I hope each of you have blogs of some kind for your adoptions because now I feel personally involved and want to watch them each be united and come out of those quiet shells of theirs. I will just post a couple on here because I know you are all waiting and I will post the rest on our message board tomorrow after I get up. I also have video so once I get home I will get that all downloaded for you. I am sorry I can't figure out how to do that here. Well I am off to post a couple of pics and then to bed. Everyone is fast asleep and I need to take advantage of these precious hours of rest. God Bless. God is so amazing and every single day here in China is another reminder of how He holds us in the palm of his hand even when we don't think about it. He holds these children in His hands too and puts a hedge of protection over them until they are united with their families. The wait period is so terribly painful because we want to be in control and have our children when we want them. But for what ever reason God uses that wait time to grow us as well as the hearts of our children. I encourage those of you waiting to get your little ones, especially the little ones I met yesterday and will be forever changed by meeting, to hold on and continue lifting them up in prayer. Pray their hearts are ready in Gods timing so that when they are placed in your arms it will be evident that God went before you and prepared the path that united your hearts together even before you left your own Country. Adoption is one of the biggest most profound miracles that has ever happened in my life and I am so grateful God put it upon our hearts almost 3 years ago. I could not imagine my life any different then it is now. I feel very richly blessed and can see the handprint of God in not only my two adopted children but in all four of my children. Adoption has changed my two older children as well, and for the better. I know their lives are forever changed by what they experienced in the orphanage yesterday. Thank you Lord for doing what I have so tried to convey in words over the last year. Thank you for allowing my older children to experience it first hand. You are an awesome God.