Together At Last!

I cannot express the depth of our gratitude to our wonderful village. We've received so many messages and calls so I apologize if we don't get back to you all right away. We are overwhelmed in the very best way which is quite the flip from two weeks ago. I'm a pretty open book (so you know it's Dana writing now) and I apologize for not really writing like I did during our trip with Magnus. I'm so thankful that Mike wrote almost every night. To be completely honest, I was overwhelmed and worried once we got to our little boy. Adoption is HARD no matter what age your child is but there are even more challenges when the child is older. As an adoptive parent, you try to educate yourself, prepare mentally and emotionally, but nothing can completely prepare you until you are living your new reality. And our new reality was scary. The key word in that statement is WAS.

Apollo has done incredibly well for having his little life come crashing down in an instant. There is no way I could adapt like he has and I am in awe of him because of his resilience. Because his heart works so very hard as you can easily feel it beat right out of his tiny chest. Because he has a million dollar smile (which may need a million dollars in dental work!) that makes a crowd flash an even bigger smile back at him. Because he says "Wo Ai Ni" (I love you) over and over. Because he always looks for our approval and is proud to show off what he has created (which today was a dinosaur connected to a gigantic fire engine by way of a broom and string - don't ask!). Because he is smart as a whip - he's both creative and analytical. Because he loves when we sing (and we don't belong on the radio!). Because he giggles when we don't pronounce Mandarin correctly (uh oh, what are we saying?!). Because he has the cutest little scars on his right cheek that I stare at when he sleeps. Because he lets his mama sing him to sleep every night. And tonight, quickly drifted off peacefully without any self soothing behavior which means he is finding security and comfort with us. I pray he rocked and sung himself to sleep for the last time two weeks ago. It is my mission that he won't ever have to do it again. Ever.

Our Apollo is a priceless gift from God and we share in His love for our son and brother. As you can guess, the girls are smitten with him! No surprise that he already adores them too. Today has been filled with many giggles and some tears. Our baby Magnus is having a hard time with the adjustment but we saw so much of him return now that he is home with his adoring sisters. They picked up right where they left off in loving on him something fierce.

As much as we love China, we could not have wanted to come home any more. Not having the girls with us was excruciating and no amount of Facetiming was good enough. We feel whole again and so very hopeful of our wonderful future together. No matter how long that future may be. Thy will be done as we follow His will, not ours. We ask for your prayers as we head to our St. Louis cardiologist on Wednesday to find out what is truly going on in Apollo's perfect little body. We will send the results to our cardiology team in Boston and fly out the following Wednesday for more testing and possibly surgery. Are we scared? Yes. Do we have faith in the One who can move mountains? Yes. Is our son worth it? A million times, YES. This is "All for You, Apollo" and we are "Together At Last"!