Late Post! We have Max!

So obviously, I have not had a chance to blog about the last few days since we added on a toddler! It has been so busy with him, and any chance I have had to rest, I have taken it. I've never had jet lag this bad. It's taken me almost a week to finally sleep all night.

Monday, Feb 2 was our "gotcha day" when we met Max. I cannot even describe that day. Max was at the Civil Affairs building when we arrived. I spotted him across the room, in his very PINK girl clothes. Took my breath away. The nanny who brought him from the orphanage saw that we recognized him and she picked him up and started over to us. They matched his name to our ID cards. He came straight to me, very much in shock, no tears or crying. I was surprised. He was so limp and had no emotion. It was almost like he had been given sleep medication. He just fell into my arms and hardly moved for the few hours we were there. We watched 17 other babies meet their new families and it was just beautiful. 

It took us another day or two to realize that Max's coping mechanism is to completely shut down. One minute, laughing and playing, the next, blank stares, limp, no emotion. 

He smelled terrible so I had to change him that first afternoon (we were told to go slow with the clothes removal as they are used to being packed into several layers). I didn't want to shock him even more. I took off one layer and later, another. Followed by another. It was like peeling off the layers of his old self. I didn't know what to expect. It honestly scared me when I got down to the last layer. He was so small. Much smaller than I had imagined. He's 17 months now, and has only had formula with one scoop of rice as his primary diet. Occasional cracker, bread, maybe fruit when it was available. I left a 4 month old back at home, who eats more milk and cereal than Max does. And now that I've weighed Max, Drake is 2 pounds bigger!

I know that we have bonded with Max through food. He has LOVED eating. I got to feed him only two bottles before he totally gave those up. He is eating SO much that I worried we would cause his tummy to be sick. No problems so far though. He eats anything we give him. He especially loves fruit, Cheerios, and scrambled eggs. 

Feeding him has been so fulfilling for me. He gets so excited about it. Claps his hands after each bite, says "yaaayyyy"!!! That big grin of his. Melts my heart. 

And he LOVES to take a bath. Splashed the water the entire time. He stands by the tub multiple times a day wanting to get in. So precious. 

I will have to post again about our orphanage visit when we get a chance to load pictures from our big camera. I don't  have any on my phone. And that's a whole other blog entry as well. 

We leave tomorrow for Guangzhou where we will finish up Max's visa paperwork and physical that's required for him to enter the U.S. We are missing our babies and ready to be home! 

Thankful for your prayers. They are much appreciated and we feel them. 

Welcome to Zhengzhou

We have arrived in the capital city of Max's province. We had the exciting adventure of traveling by bullet train this morn. It was SO much better than an airplane. Just look at all the space! The seats reclined, turned towards the windows, had TVs, and snacks. We sat back and enjoyed the view of China and company from a few other families in our group. 

When we got to our room, Max's crib was already set up by our bed. It took my breath away for a moment. I was holding back tears. This is really happening. We meet him in less than 24 hours! 

We were given information about Max's daily schedule, including what and how much he is eating, likes and dislikes. We exchanged money at the bank and went to the Walmart down the street. There we bought formula and snacks for him. Everything looks so different from home so it took forever to find what we needed. 

Please keep us in your prayers! We are still tired from jet lag. We want to have lots of energy for our new little guy. 

We will be leaving to meet him, YOUR time, around halftime of the SuperBowl, 9:30 in the morning for us. So if you happen to be watching it, shoot up a small prayer for us if you think about it. We will post pictures as soon as we can!

Thank you and love to all.