OH MY HEART

Hello Everyone! We are on day 3 of having Jonah and he is so fun. He is opening up more everyday. I am finding that he gets very quiet around lots of people. He just freezes. I feel sad for him , but let me tell you, once it is just us back at our hotel the real Jonah emerges again. He sings, serves us water- he takes the glasses from the mini bar and pours each of us a glass, passes them out with pride and never drinks one himself. Jarrod says this is very traditional. He is playing up a storm with his brothers and is definitely all boy. He will fit right in! Last night he did the cutest thing. You see, every night he prepares his bed for bedtime with this little ritual of foling down his blankets perfectly and having his stuffed animals in place-all lined up and his pillow "fluffed" and put back in the perfect spot. Well, last night he did his little ritual and then looked over at my bed. He looked at me with those eyes as if to ask if he could just sleep with his Mama...... of course I said yes and he snuggled right in with a huge grin on his face. I think he has decided he likes having a mama. It boggles my mind how much he is just experiencing now for the first time. He waited 6 years to crawl in bed with Mom and Dad ? How many times in the last 6 years did he go to sleep lonely? I got to see his bed and it had a wooden bottom-much like a child bed but without a mattress, just a slab of wood with a bamboo mat on it. Next to his bed was Jin Pei's bed. I am so grateful they have had eachother. I am glad Jin Pei knows he will be home soon and can see Jonah. I knew who alot of the kids were at the orphanage because their files were sent to my agecy also and I keep in touch with all their mamas. They are no longer "pictures"of cute little kids, they are real ,beautiful human beings , orphans,who just lit up when they saw us. The are loved at the orphanage-it is apparent. However, you can see in their eyes that they wanted to be the one who got to go "Home" with their family. They were all beautiful, precious little people with little personalities of their own, a story of their own, and a purpose on this Earth. My heart broke as I had to leave. I pray for all my new little friends every day. I know some will get homes, some will not, but one thing is for sure, it changes you. Going there changes you FOREVER. Believe me when I say my wheels have been turning non stop since we left. There has to be a way to do more for these kids. One in particular, I will try to post her photo here is a beautiful girl 13 years old who is there because her parents died. She remembers them so for this reason, no one in China would want her and the Government assumed all these years that no one in America would want her either-just because she remembers her parents. She is 13- she is beautiful, friendly, very smart and kind, She should be shopping at the mall and crushing on boys for heaven's sake. I asked the orphanage director if there was a way I could convince the powers that be that there would be families out there in America who would feel as I do and they said YES!!! They said if I could get an agency to request her file, they would make sure her application was sent. They said it is in my hands because they have so many rules over them , but if the CCAA knew a family /families wanted her she would have a good chance of going up for adoption to that family. Of course my first thought was,"I will be back in 6 months" but I think my husband is out of money!! - I spent time with her and she is so lovely. I gave her a bracelet my MIL made for a gift and she lit up. I will do everything in my power to get her a home -(if it can't be mine). I hate to think of her future -She just needs a Mom and Dad to guide her and love her-she had that once and for unknown reasons, her family was taken from her life. -UHG!!

Well, I'd better go- The boys are doing great and so are we. I miss my babies at home terribly but we only have 6 days left! I love all of you and will post more tonight!