Monday, October 26, 2015

First 24 hours with Jonah and Rees

What an amazing, exhilarating, adventurous and exhausting first 24 hours with our newest sons, Jonah and Rees.  I wish I could say that it was perfect right from the start .... but it was not ... and it still isn't BUT it is definitely MUCH BETTER!!

We were told that the boys would be brought to our hotel room at 2pm.  Well, that time came and went and we waited another 45 minutes out in the hallway looking down over the 'indoor courtyard' hoping to see them when they arrived.


I would love to upload the video that Molly took of their arrival.  But it seems to take far too long to upload.  I may keep trying ... I'm sure some of you are interested.  Like I said, we were waiting and could look out the windows down below and we were able to see them as they entered the lobby area.  They looked up at us and we waved to them.  They were brought by three caretakers and our guide, Missy.

Oh how I wish you could see this photo!!  This was when Rees ran right up to me and said, "Mama!"  He got really close and he let me hug him.
In the background, you can see Jonah who was breathing very heavily and beginning to cry.

It was very difficult to console Bei Bei (Jonah).  He was crying so hard that he was having trouble breathing and he nearly threw up several times.


Because of the way that Bei Bei was reacting, Huang Huang (Rees) began to cry too ... rather uncontrollably, so then we had two boys nearly hysterical!  


It was pretty awful for a while.  This caretaker didn't seem to bothered by it ... apparently, she is used to it.  I, on the other hand, was taking it rather hard.  When we adopted Molly and Brynn they barely cried at all; Molly was just quiet and shy at first.


They boys finally calmed down enough if their caretakers were near them.


They eventually allowed Brynn to sit with them too and they were playing with the stickers and coloring books that we brought for them.


Bei Bei decided he wanted to take photos so we let him use one of the cameras ... anything to make him calm down ... and he took this lovely photo of me.  I actually LIKE it!!


The caretakers wanted us to have some family photos taken.  The boys were obedient and seemed not to mind this at all.


They had us do several different photos.




When the caretakers left, the boys went into hysterics again ... seriously ... I was beside myself because I didn't know what to do for them and it really pained me to see them so upset.  After what seemed like a really long time, I have to confess, I couldn't take it anymore and I began praying and I know that a whole bunch of YOU were praying after I posted that it was not going well.  
I started to cry; I just couldn't keep it in anymore and I went and sat down on the ledge near the window and I covered my face and just quietly cried.  Molly and Brynn came over to me and put their arms around me; Brian was trying to calm the boys and within a minute or so, the room was completely quiet.  I looked up and the boys were just standing there looking at me and they had stopped crying!

After that, things were better for a while.  It was a much needed reprieve. 
We got them to eat, thankfully, ... Rees is a very good eater and he helps Jonah to eat, who has trouble getting the food to stay in his mouth.  
They are so sweet the way that they are so protective of one another.


Jonah eats very little and we are hoping that will change within a few days.  He is very skinny and in need of a little more flesh around his bones.


The boys are very comfortable around the girls and will hold their hands and stay close to them, even play some games.  We are so thankful that we have them with us.


Brynn showed the boys how to jump across from bed to bed, which they were very eager to try!!



I am going to end this post now since I have been having so many internet issues.  But I will post more.  Don't worry!!

Please keep praying for us and for the boys.  We have felt your prayers and we are grateful.  We know that it takes time but would like to feel that the boys will bond to us, the parents, and be comfortable with us.  They point to us and say "mama" and "baba" but they do not want to hold our hands or sit with us yet.  Rees is more comfortable and easy-going than Jonah.  I feel that God is going to teach me something very important through Jonah, which makes me both excited and fearful at the same time.

He acknowledges me but won't allow me to touch him ... maybe some M&M's will help to change that ... wink, wink ... 







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