Fuzhou and Teddy's first loves

After our first night in Fuzhou I woke up feeling a bit shocked.  Reality hit that I was all the way around the world everyone I loved and cared about with the exception of our sweet Teddy.  I felt nervous thinking about how the rest of our time in China would go after an evening filled with tears.  I wouldn't have expected to roll over and see Teddy watching me eagerly waiting for permission to get up.  I was surprised to see a slow smile come to his face.  He was quiet and a bit hesitant, but he was smiling at me.  I started to feel just a little relaxed.  We got dressed and ready for our first full day together.  I was surprised to see how independent our little guy was.  I had figured I would have to help him a lot, but before I knew it he had his pjs off and his clothes and shoes on waiting at the door with his backpack full of toys and his sunglasses on (upside down of course).  Just like at home he even seemed to be a bit frustrated that it took me longer than him to get ready.  Oh Teddy, Daddy & Sam will tell you that you better get used to waiting on Mommy. :-) I am the only girl in a house with 3 men after all. 

Doesn't this look like a guy ready for a full day? :-)

We went down stairs for breakfast.  Our guide greeted us in the lobby and sat with us for part of breakfast.  I was quite surprised to learn breakfast in China is pretty much like any other meal during the day.  No light start cereal or toast. The breakfast buffet included rice, noodles, fish, salad... Teddy was thrilled and he ate like a champ.  I fixed him a small plate at first like I would fix for Sam.  Penny quickly explained he would need much more.  I was shocked to see my tiny son eat 2 full size plates of food for breakfast.  He had fruit, 2 cups of yogurt, noodles, rice, congee (boiled rice-porridge), ham, bannana chips... You get the idea.  I ate a piece of watermelon and some type of breakfast pastry. 
After breakfast we met up with a family from Chicago to go to the registrar and notary.  I felt so comforted to meet someone who lived so close to home.  It made me feel so much more at ease.  Silly I know, but it made a difference.  Toby, Anndrea, and Wen were fantastic!  Teddy & I were blessed to spend a good deal of time with them in Fuzhou.  It was such a gift to have someone to share this expeience with me.
On the way to the registrar's office Penny explained that the 2 nannies from Teddy's orphanage would be there.  I started to get nervous all over again.  What if he cried and begged to go home with them again?  After we arrived Teddy was of course very excited to see his nannies.  He smiled, hugged them, and followed them around the office like a lost puppy.  I signed more forms, they took our fingerprints and we were done and ready for our next stop.  To my surprise, Teddy happily said goodbye and held my hand as we headed back to the van.  Not one tear from our brave little guy.
By this time, I was starting to realize how much Teddy was starting to notice our guide Penny.  I should mention Penny is 23 and quite pretty.  Like the other men in our family, Teddy is able to spot a pretty girl from a mile away.  I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight.  Teddy loved to hold Penny's hand, hug her, kiss her cheek, and he giggled everytime she even looked his way.  It was too cute.  He was excited to go into the notary's office with Penny.  It was okay if I tagged along, but he was definitely following Penny's lead.  When we got upstairs Anndrea and I decided we better take the kids to the restroom before we sat down with the notary.  Well folks, if you have never heard of a squatty potty, let me explain.  It's basically a porcelain bowl set into the floor.  There is no seat so you basically have to hover.  There is typically no available toilet paper (always carry Kleenex in China) and often no running water to the potty.  A bucket of water is used to flush. Eeeeek!  This was my first experience.  Teddy had no problem with it at all.  It was at this point, I vowed to work on my bladder control and potty any time I saw a western toilet whether I thought I needed to go or not.  After our quick trip to the restroom, we sat down with the notary.  She asked a few quick questions about why Tom and I wanted to adopt and how we chose China.  A few more documents were signed and Teddy was officially a Crawhorn! Praise God after 11 months he was ours.  It's an amazing feeling! Well, it's getting late so I better head to bed.  As I mentioned in my last post, we now have 2- 3 year olds to keep up with.  Things have changed in the Crawhorn household.  We now get up at around 6:30.  Unlike Sam, Teddy likes to turn in early and rise early.  Please check back for my next post.  I have a lot of stories to share over the next few days!

Melissa :-)

*Pictures of Teddy and Penny to come later.  I'm struggling with how to include a photo due to the way the camera was turned.

Traveling to Teddy & our first day together

I'm working a bit backwards as we are now all home together. I had good intentions to post to our blog while in China. It wasn't until just before I left that I found out the site was blocked. Then I got home and had 2 busy 3 yr. old boys and a 12 hr. time difference to adjust back to. So I'll go back and start at the beginning.

It took 3 planes and just over 24 hrs. to get to Fuzhou, China. I had never been on such a long flight and have to admit, I will be in no hurry to do it again anytime soon. I first met Teddy in a meeting room at our hotel 3 hrs. after arriving. He came in being carried by one of his 2 favorite nannies with a snack cake hanging out of his mouth. That should have been my first sign we had a big eater on our hands. :-) When they first handed him to me he was in a panic. He sobbed and tried desperately to get back to his nannies. It wasn't the reaction I had hoped for, but I could only imagine what he was feeling. They quickly had me sign a few forms and took our first picture together (not our finest, but I will still treasure it). Then our sweet guide, Penny, walked us back to our room with the hope of helping Teddy calm down. Penny went so above and beyond. She stayed with me for over an hour while I rocked Teddy, rubbed his back, gave him a bath, put his pajamas on, and ordered room service. Our boy is a fighter. He cried for more than 3 1/2 hrs., vomited twice, refused to eat & eventually fell asleep in the floor by the door totally worn out. I thank God for Penny that night. She gave me a hug when I broke down and cried. I completely understood Teddy was scared. I think the tears came mostly from exhaustion and fear myself. I never expected to be traveling to bring our boy home all by myself (I did, God watched over us, and we made it home safely). Before Penny left that night, the one thing she could understand Teddy saying over and over was "go home, go home..." He is smart and strong. I had to end up putting my suitcase in front of our door to be sure he didn't get out and make a run for it. :-) My heart ached for our sweet boy and I prayed for his comfort.
Please stay tuned for my next post. Teddy warmed up to me quickly and happier memories were soon to come.

Notice our precious son still accepted his backpack with toys, sunglasses & toy cell phone.  I look at this picture 3 weeks later, and he looks like a completely different child. Wow! What a change!

Melissa has Teddy.

Melissa now has Teddy. They ate doing well, sounds like big adjustment for both. He is eating snacks that Melissa got for him and playing with toys and cell phone. They should be going to the consulate to do paperwork. I am also on Facebook which I am posting to more often. Just send me a request on there Tom Crawhorn.

Melissa is in Fuzhou.

Melissa is in Fuzhou at the hotel. She will get Teddy in about 3hrs from now. She said flights were little rough, ready to be home.

Saturday post.

Melissa should be in Ganzhou, China. She should be getting on the plane to Fozhou.

Melissa has landed safe in LAX.

First leg of the flight is finished. She has landed safely in Los Angeles.

Fed Ex Stalker

Is it normal to be obsessed with FedEx trucks when you are adopting internationally? 

As we wait for LOA I am becoming crazier if that is even possible.  I watch every one I pass wondering if good news may be in the back of the truck.  Rationally, I know our agency will call & say we have LOA before FedEx comes, but that doesn't stop me.  I see 3 in a days time and tell Tom "3rd times a charm maybe today's our day."  I'm sure I'm driving him batty, but still he loves me and says "I'm sure you are right Honey."  Afterwards he may look for mental health facilities on his phone, but he acts like I have a totally normal obsession.  They come in all forms.
                                                                 

Several apparently pass our house everyday.  Yesterday we pulled out of the driveway and passed a FedEx truck.  I told Tom I was going to turn around just in case it was going to our house so we didn't miss it.  Have to say that's where he drew the line.  "Dear, I'm sure Marilyn will tell you when it's coming so we are home."  I couldn't stop thinking about it all day and nearly jumped from the car when a small box was sitting on the bench.  Silly starter for his parents' lawnmower. All I need is for one to stop and pull in our driveway.  I've seen people take photos of the driver with their envelope.  Poor driver has no clue what they are in for when they ring our door bell.  I'm so anxious I may just accidentally knock him/her over, give a quick kiss, or hug until they beg me to let go.  Can you imagine this isn't even the last step? Someone in our house needs to calm down a bit.  I'm not saying it's me, but the boys are acting normal so guess it's a good chance.  Ugh!  How much longer????? I'm so ready to hold my boy!!! Sam asks about him every day now.  Tom buys 2 of every toy.  Don't let him kid you.  One is for Sam and he is using the 2nd until Teddy gets home.  This is getting to be a good deal for him.  Still waiting! Still praying! We are praying for Teddy to be safe, remain in good health, know we love him, and that God grants Mommy an extra helping of patience.  :-) 

Growing According to God's Plan,
Melissa (still waiting for God's perfect timing)

Waiting

First of all, I apologize that it has been so long since my last post.  I've been spending tons of time with my wonderful husband (just celebrated our 9th anniversary) and adorable, active son Sam.  I'm enjoying summer break from school to the fullest!  We are so blessed to have this time together and for that I am truly thankful.  The only thing that could make this time anymore enjoyable is having our sweet Teddy home to enjoy it with us.  I spoke to our dossier specialist this week and it looks like there are many Chinese adoptions being processed.  It is so amazing to know more sweet children will no longer have to wait for their forever homes.  I understand that causes delays, some days it's just hard to be patient when you are a waiting mommy a world away from one of your children.  We know how rare it is that we get the opportunity to see his pictures while we wait.  Love Without Boundaries is so generous!  I watch his sweet face and wonder if he has any idea how much we already love him.  Does he look at the photo album we sent him and know we are his family and he is ours?  Is he excited about coming home?  As we wait we pray that he remains in good health.  We can see from the photos he is treated with such care & kindness.  Oh little one, how Mommy longs to hold you!  Your Daddy and brother are just as excited and anxious.  Today Sam saw a little boy from China at the mall playground.  He was about Teddy's size.  Sam got soooo excited and ran over to tell us he saw his brother.  It was so cute.  There was a bit of resemblance.  You could tell Sam was disappointed when we told him it wasn't Teddy.  It will be a dream come true to watch my boys play together!  We are still waiting on our LOA (letter of approval).  Our LID (log in date) was May 10th.  By my count, we have been waiting 42 days.  We are sooooo ready!  God please give me patience and bring our boy home safely and soon!

Growing According to God's Plan,
Melissa

2011-05-18

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play date with Addison

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Thirty-One Fundraiser

It's been forever since my last post.  We have had a very busy couple of months at the Crawhorn house.  Now we are getting back on track and ready to do more fundraising to help bring our little angel Teddy to join his sweet brother Sam.  Our newest fundraiser is Thirty-One through Farrah Ison.  Please check out the newest products at  http://www.mythirtyone.com/26381/ .  20% of the proceeds go to helping us fund our adoption!  Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.  Our family and friends mean to the world to us.  It's amazing how this journey has brought us closer to those we love and led us to wonderful new friends.  God is so amazing!

Growing According to God's Plan,

Melissa  

2011-05-03

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Yippee!

We received our I 797 approval from immigration today!  We are sooooo ready to bring our little boy home.  We are working hard Teddy!  Everything except our approval has been authenticated.  We are overnighting it to our agency Monday.  Then to get our dossier on its way to China. Can anyone give us a better idea of our timeframe from now until we can get on a plane and be on our way?  Did I mention we are soooooo ready? Thank you all of your support and prayers!

Growing According to God's Plan,
Melissa :-)

KidsCommons

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Could you see sweet Daniel in your family?

Daniel
Male
Born - 7-26-2009


At the age of six months Daniel was abandoned.  At that time his caretakers and physician said the following: through the examination, he was found to suffer cleft lip and palate, PDA, and acleistocardia. He is a gentle and cute boy, is introvert, but is obstinate sometimes. Although he does not have loud crying, when you do not cuddle him when seeing him, he will never stop crying. He will cry when it is time for milk, and will not bear to be late for one minute, so the aunts call him little alarm clock. But he is easy to be satisfied, and will play happily after being full, and can make sound like a, a, he likes to have bath, and is not afraid of water, he is docile when having bath. During an exam in January of 2010, the doctor said:  grains of lungs increase, heart, lung and midriff are normal.CHD, PDA (tiny) acleistocardia (tiny).  He suffers slight mental delay. His cleft lip was also repaired in January of 2010.  We are waiting on updated information.To review his file, please contact kathy@wiaa.org at Wasatch Adoptions.  Grant funding is available for qualifying families in the amount of $2500.  Could you be his forever family?

Growing According to God's Plan,
Melissa :-)

Paypal is so much easier when you are the one doing the shopping

We are working on getting our Paypal buttons up and running.  Our shirt designs, bags, and bands are ready.  Our coffee fundraiser, Silpada Designs fundraiser & Butter Braids fundraiser are all under way.  Now just to figure out how to add Paypal buttons to make out of state orders easier.  I've figured out how to set the buttons, but not how to add shipping.  Right now, I need sleep.  Maybe it will seem clearer in the morning.  Good night friends!  Take care!

Growing According to God's Plan,
Melissa ;-)

Check out our new t-shirts and bags!

We are so excited our new t-shirt and bag design is ready!  Check it out & please let us know if you are interested in purchasing one to help bring Teddy home!  They are available in youth sizes for $10 ($12 w/shipping), adult sizes for $12 ($15 w/shipping), and bags are $8 ($10 w/shipping).   

Adoption Fundraisers

Teddy Jianjin Crawhorn

Thank you for helping us fund our adoption and bring our little angel home! 

 Our current adoption fundraisers include:

*Silpada Designs through Nancy Garrett (until March 21st)

*red Faith, Hope, Love t-shirts & bags from T-shirt Express in Franklin, IN.  Youth sizes available for $10, adult sizes $12, and cloth bags $8. 

 *Butter Braids pastries (Until March 23rd with delivery on Apr. 7th-sorry local orders only due to refrigeration) $11

*Just Love Coffee (on-going until we have Teddy home & will continue to help with medical costs) $12.95

 *Longaberger basket sales through Deloris Taylor (April)

 *Longaberger basket raffles (coming soon-keep checking back :-) )

Thank you for your generosity!

 Tom, Melissa, Sam & Teddy Crawhorn

Jinjiang families

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New friends & a Sneak Peek at our Future

 

We had a great weekend together as a family.  One of the highlights of our weekend was getting the opportunity to meet 2 families with JinJiang cuties!  Our friend Stacy was in Cincinnati with her son Solomon (home from JinJiang just 4 mos.) and & oldest son T.  They are here for some medical appts. all the way from California.  What an amazing opportunity to have them so close.  Stacy has a beautiful blended family built by birth, domestic & international adoption.  They could definitely show you the miracles & blessings adoption can offer.  It was surreal to see Solomon after seeing him in photos with Teddy.  Sam really enjoyed the boys.  I was a bit caught off guard when Sam asked Solomon for Teddy.  I think Sam thought he would be there with Solomon.  Oh how we wish he could have been!  Of course, they were starting to become more relaxed about the time we had to head home.  Solomon asked if he could go home with us and sleep with Sam in his bed.  Our hearts melted! We've looked at a photo of Solomon & Sam and know it's a glimpse into the future with our Jinjiang cutie & Sam together.  Tom & I spent the ride home talking about how we could save the money to travel to California in the future.  We also had the opportunity to meet Nancy Ann & her sweet 5 yr. old daughter Adelie (home in KY from Jinjiang 3 yrs. now).  She gave us a personal tour of the Cincy zoo.  She was a bit shy so I had to be sneaky to get any pictures with her in them.  :-)  I will have my camera ready for our next visit & see if I can be a bit quicker.  We thought this would be the end of our visit.  However, Tom is now going to be off this weekend & we hope to get to go back for one more short visit.  If all goes as planned we should get to meet Jolene & her family (from Michigan) on this trip.  They are at about the same pt. in their adoption process for their son Dalton.  It would be terrific to get to travel together to China.  There are 5 families adopting sons (all at a close age) from JinJiang who are just days apart in their process.  How awesome is that?  God is truly amazing! Tom & I keep telling each other that these new friendships are just another gift we have discovered on this journey to bring our son home.

     
 

Growing According to God's Plan,

Melissa :-)       

Waiting and waiting and waiting



 We are anxiously awaiting approval of our I-800 A.  Tom is so excited about having Teddy home, but he stays so calm & collected.  Not me!  Waiting is not one of my strengths.  I do want to mention I am in great company while I wait.  I'm with 2 of my 3 favorite guys.  Tom & Sam are so amazing!  We are enjoying our weekend together so far.  It was great to see the sunshine today. Can't wait to see Sam & Teddy playing in the backyard.  Tomorrow we are going to meet two other families who adopted from the same orphanage Teddy is in.  Tom & I are anxious to hear their advice & experiences.  One family is from Kentucky and the other is from California.  I still think it is so awesome to have this chance to get together.  What a gift!  I don't want to forget to include we are excited to officially meet Solomon.  Solomon is a friend of Teddy's.  He has been home with his family in California since September.  We feel like we know him a little already from all of the beautiful pictures.  Can't wait!  Before I call it a night, I would like to ask everyone to say a prayer for our son Sam.  He had a hearing test earlier in the week & didn't pass in one ear.  We are working on getting him into an ENT for further testing.  Maybe this will hold the answer to why speech is such a struggle for him.  We know God is watching over both our sweet angels while we wait for news!
Growing According to God's Plan (& Anxiously Waiting),
Melissa :-)      

What a journey!

Who would have thought building our family would take us all the way around the world?  I certainly didn't.  Tom & I were just kids when we started dating.  It's amazing to think we've been together for 17 years now. Where did the time go?  We've grown up together and are now blessed with such an amazing friendship & love!  We waited for college graduation to get married.  Then we wanted a couple of years together on our own before starting our family.  We would have never imagined it would be so tough.  From start to Sam's long awaited arrival was 5 years.  It seemed like forever!  If you had told me then our infertility would have been a blessing I would have laughed.  No, I would have probably screamed.  Now, we know differently.  Waiting taught us to cherish our time with Sam!  I know we would have loved him, but would we have loved him so deeply?  Then, there's Teddy!  When Tom and I were dating and talking about our futures, we had no idea it would include adoption.  What a miracle!  When we saw Teddy's sweet face, we just knew he was our son.  I've had a few ask "Why China?". I loved the response I read on another adoption blog, "that's where our son is!"  In the past months our lives have changed more than we expected.  More than some of our friends and family may even realize.  We started this process searching for a child to add to our family.  I had no idea how much it would touch my heart!  All the beautiful faces waiting for their families!  Oohhhh!  I wish I could personally find a loving home for each and every one.  When we bring Teddy home (which can't come soon enough), it will not be the end of our adoption journey.  This is the start of a new calling for our family!  We want to spread the word about the amazing children out their just waiting.  Thank you God for allowing us to be a part of your plan!  What a blessing!  

Growing According to God's Plan,
Melissa