Seeing the Wall...and then hitting it!!

Hello to everyone back home. The Apollo mission team has safely arrived in Hero City, Nanchang.  A lot has happened since our last post, but things are also happening very fast without much of an opportunity to stop and write about it.  

Quick synopsis of our Saturday.  Unfortunately we have not yet adjusted to the time change, so we were all awake by 1am and watched some strange sheep-people cartoon for about 5 hours until the restaurant opened for breakfast. We were able to repackage our suitcases because the plan for the day was to check out of the hotel, go to the Great Wall, and then catch an overnight train ride from Beijing to Nanchang.  

 

After a lovely breakfast, we had about an hour to kill before our guide arrived so we hit the streets to try to find a Starbucks. The day was absolutely glorious. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the temperature was about 70... a stark difference from the 60 degree, overcast and windy day from Friday. My phone said that there were multiple within a mile. I chose one and off we marched. Not for coffee to drink, but rather to buy gift cards to give as gifts (although I probably would have gotten a coffee to drink too).  However, after walking up and down the street where it was supposed to be, no Starbucks could be found. We did see some quaint little shopping streets. We hustled back to the hotel to grab our suitcases and check out. 

 

There was another adoptive family that is with the same agency staying at the hotel (not just by coincidence, our agency put us together for ease of coordination by our shared guide. We all piled into the van to head toward The Great Wall. The other adoptive family was represented by the Father and 14 year old daughter. They currently have 6 children (2 previous adoptions) and are in China to adopt 2 more! We really got to know them on the van ride and they are wonderful wonderful people!  We will see them again in about a week when we get to Guangzhou. 

This trip we have our same guide in Beijing that we had last year, Cindy. When we saw her we asked if she remembered us, she said "Oh yes, three girls, twins, panda stocking hat".  She was right on. This is how we looked last year.

 

On the way to the wall we stopped at the largest Jade market in Beijing. It is the same place we went last year and spent and exorbitant amount of money. This year we just browsed and bought a 3 yuan Fanta. 

 
 

After the jade market, we continued our drive northward into the mountains. We asked Cindy if we could go to a different place on the wall than last time.  So we went about another 20 minutes beyond the previous section and arrived at Badaling.  A few differences from last year.  This one had a cable car to take you up to a higher section (don't worry, there was still a plenty of climbing up there).  The biggest difference this time was the crowd. Here is last year's pic:

 

and this is this year's:

 

The Great Wall is truly a marvel of the world. The fact that it was built entirely by men's bare hands with no machinery still boggles my mind. Our guide said it has been called history's longest cemetery because the slaves that were used to build it would work to their death and then just be buried in the mountain right alongside.  

Magnus was more interested in taking on the wall using his own two feet than to be carried. 

      

After about 2 hours on the wall, we took the cable car back down to meet Cindy and the other family. We then went to lunch at the same place as last year. It doubles as a restaurant and copper factory (the metal, not what a 1920's gangster would call a doughnut shop)...insert Dana's eye roll at my humor here.

After lunch we had quite a bit of time left before we needed to be at the train station so the guide took us for a Chinese Tea Ceremony. It was really a neat experience. We were in a private room and a lady came in to make multiple forms of tea for us to sample.  Dana and I are not big tea drinkers, but after sampling some new types, we will definitely start!  The first one was called Ginseng Oolong. It gave one of the most refreshing after-tastes ever.  Even Magnus got in on the tea drinking.

 

After the tea ceremony, we drove by all the Beijing Olympic sites. Cindy said they have the 2022 Winter Olympics coming back to Beijing. 

 

Around 5:00 we arrived at the train station. The best way to describe Magnus at this point is somewhere between Fiery Exhausted Rage and Hangry Frustration.  We were "those Americans" with a screaming Chinese child that looked like he hated us.  When we finally got on the train I got a little confused by the numbering system and put all of our stuff in one of the sleeper rooms. A lady came to the doorway and just stared at us. After comparing the tickets, it was clear that I was in the wrong and we needed to move down a couple doors. Moving all our stuff with the lady refusing to step out of the doorway and Magnus screaming like a hyena was...fun. 

 

Now, after a semi-full night's sleep, we are ready to prepare for Family Day!  

 

 

We will go check in at the Shangri-La Nanchang. We learned that Apollo will be taking the train down Sunday from Beijing and he will come right over to us at the hotel.  This is the real reason we are here!! We are ready to bring Apollo into our family and show him the love and care every child deserves.  

 

Why We Said Yes...Again

We had an incredibly special day today but we've been asked not write about it or post pictures. Sorry!! We can tell you we are so blessed!!

Saturday we will climb the Great Wall again but this time with Magnus. We're so excited to show him "his wall"! Since we can't give details about today, I'll post what I wrote on the plane yesterday - 

We have been asked more times than we can count about why we are adopting again. And why we are adopting a child who is so very sick. The simple answer is "because this is what God has called us to do". He has spoken to us in a way we have never been spoken to or called before. It's truly indescribable but one of the most glorious gifts we have ever been given. We believe everyone has been called in some way so if one of your callings isn't adoption, it's okay to not understand why we do what we do. We only ask for your love and prayers!

For those who have met Magnus, there is no doubt he has been an absolute gift to our family. A God-given gift! Nothing about his little life has been less than a miracle. He exudes pure joy and we see this same joy in the pictures and videos we have of Apollo. Oh how blessed are we?! That's right, WE are the ones who are blessed. Both boys have been called "lucky" time after time but what about their lives has been lucky? They were both born with very special hearts, which in turn, meant their birth parents likely couldn't afford the surgeries that would save their lives. They had to make the most selfless and loving sacrifice of giving their children up so that they may be saved. There is no greater love. We will always speak lovingly and respectfully of their birth parents and the love they have for our sons.

Another popular question has been about Apollo's heart needs. Even though he has multiple congenital heart defects like Magnus, Apollo's heart is much more complex. His heart only has one ventricle (single ventricle) and is dextrocardia (points to the right side of his chest instead of the left). He also has an ASD and VSD like Magnus along with pulmonary atresia. Finally, one of our cardiologists suspects he may have heterotaxy where some of his organs are on the opposite side of his body. As you as can see, Apollo is super special! He uses oxygen while he sleeps so we are anxious to get him back home and to the hospital. We will see our St. Louis cardiologist several days after being home and then we will fly out to Boston the following week and most likely stay for surgery. The difference between the boys' surgeries and futures is that Magnus's anatomy allowed for him to have a full bi-ventricular repair where his heart is operating as a "normal" heart should. Apollo will likely not be eligible for any type of full repair due to only having one ventricle. We understand what this may mean for the longevity of his life but our faith in God is great! So we will live every day to the fullest together!

Now the name game - did we choose Apollo because it's just a really "cool" name? No, it is much more meaningful to us. In our minds, we derived it from the Apostles. And just like the Apostles, we pray Apollo will be the hands and feet of Jesus. We pray he will proclaim His good name for all to hear. If he comes to love our Lord as Magnus has already, he will live such a beautiful and fulfilling life. Do we like that it's a pretty awesome name too - absolutely! And as his big sister, Anya, has said, "He will shoot for the stars!". Mike prefers the phrase "We will love him to the moon and back" in keeping with the spirit of the NASA "APOLLO" missions to the moon.

Last year, an adoptive father told us in China that it's not IF you go back, it's WHEN you go back. At the time, we didn't know we would be adopting again but those words etched themselves into our hearts. And here we are, 16 months later as we're about to complete our family and become the Duff Family of 7 on Sunday!!

We're in Beijing!

Post by Mike: 

We have arrived safely in Beijing. It is currently 7pm here, but 6am back home. Yes, that means we were up all night after only getting about 3 hours of sleep the night before we left St. Louis.  Magnus just couldn't find his way to get comfortable or into a full sleep on the flight. That meant we didn't either. All things considered, he did really well for so much travel in the last 24 hours. On the van ride from the airport to the hotel we were all too tired to really take in the sights and sounds that we fell in love with when we came last year. All of our heads kept nodding off and then opening back up when the driver would hit the breaks to miss a biker 2 ft from the car.  We have the next two weeks to truly observe and take it all in.  

Pictures on this post are limited for two reasons:

1. Dana and Magnus are already sound asleep and I'm sliding fast
2. 25 hours from wake up in STL to arrival in Beijing leaves us not looking exactly picturesque

Apollo 7

We're in San Francisco and on board our flight to Beijing!! We're excited, a tad nervous, and beyond ready to return to a country that we love so much! A country that will always remain close to our hearts for it has blessed us with the two most wonderful sons! Apollo Daniel WanRong, your mommy, daddy, and little brother are on our way to you! We're on a mission to bring you HOME, our own Apollo 7 mission!

So here we go as this is ALL FOR APOLLO!!

The Fab Five Reveal

Tomorrow we will set out on another beautiful, world-wide journey to our Apollo. Mike, Magnus, and I will say goodnight and goodbye to our sweet girls one last time tonight until we see them again in 2.5 weeks. I'm reminiscing and thinking back to when we told the girls and Magnus they were going to have a new brother.

It was Christmas morning and all of the presents had been opened...all but one. We had strategically wrapped a picture of Apollo in 4 boxes - each box being wrapped into the next size box. So they started unwrapping with Anya going first. They giggled at the sight of another wrapped present inside and Eliza unwrapped the next box, then Juliette, and finally Magnus who was left with the picture frame. When he turned it over for everyone to see, little jaws dropped to the ground, big smiles emerged, and screaming ensued. It was the most wonderful gift we could ever have given them and they couldn't have been any more excited or surprised. They loved Apollo as their own from the minute they laid eyes on him too!

Love at First Sight

August 14, 2016. What an important day this will always be to me. It’s the day I saw a picture of your precious face and fell in love with you immediately. Though Daddy agreed over the summer we had another child in China, he wasn’t ready to return so quickly. I, on the other hand, had been hearing God’s call for months and it only grew louder and clearer with each passing day. We had only been home six months with your brother and it had only been three months since his miraculous heart surgery in Boston. Nonetheless, on August 14^th, I was certain I was staring into the eyes of my son. I showed Daddy your picture as I had time and time again while advocating for children needing forever families. He commented how cute you were with a smile and continued working on school work. From that point on, you never left my mind nor heart. Not for one single day!

As the days passed, I continued to bring you up in conversation with Daddy but was met with smile after smile and “not yet”. The days turned into weeks and then months. By October, Daddy started really warming up to the idea of going back to our beloved China sooner than later and agreed to look at your file. But he just wanted to loooook. 😊 As hard as it was to accept, if you weren’t meant to be ours, then I was going to learn as much as I could about you and your very broken heart. As an advocate, I try so hard to help families find their children and I was determined to find your family. I don’t think my heart had ever been that conflicted in my entire life. I so desperately wanted to be your mama but it was more important to find your family and find them fast so you could have the heart surgery that would save your life.

Holt, our home study agency, was reluctant to send your file without first checking with our social worker, Joy. She reassured them that we would only start our journey to you if Daddy and I were on the same page. As it was getting approved to be sent, I spoke with a Holt caseworker and she told me more about you. I practically melted on the kitchen floor with each piece of information she shared, especially when she told me how special it was that there was a specific story included in your file. It stated that your nannies would call you by your name (Wan Rong) or nickname (Ling Ling). You would teasingly correct them with a twinkle in your eye, telling them to call you “handsome boy” instead! I almost burst into tears at that very moment while standing at our kitchen island because that was the nickname given to your brother by his nannies at his orphanage. At the end of the conversation, the caseworker said you were in Shangrao city which is in the Jiangxi province. Just like your brother! That night, I told Daddy all that I had learned and he immediately looked up exactly where Shangrao was located. To our shock, it is less than three hours away from Magnus’s orphanage in Nanchang. In all of China, we think you were born only three hours away from him! What was even more astonishing was that I found out that children from Shangrao are brought to Nanchang to meet their families. Just like with Magnus last year! Only God!! We had our first and second God winks that you were our boy. I was sure of it!

We were told your file would be returned to the shared list at the end of October. I asked our placing agency, WACAP, to scoop it up and I would start advocating for you on Red Thread Advocates. Your file was returned but WACAP was too late in getting it; someone else had it already. A beloved caseworker and friend called to tell me. I was devastated and cried while at a park with Magnus. I felt so guilty because this meant maybe another agency requested it for a family, maybe your forever family. Again, I had such conflicting thoughts and feelings. After three days, it showed back up on the shared list but WACAP missed it yet again so it disappeared a second time. A whole month went by with no word of where your file was…none. But I never gave up on you.  

While asking all over on Facebook advocacy pages, I connected with one of your preschool teachers! God wink #3! To my surprise, you weren’t in Shangrao but at an amazing medical foster home near Beijing, called New Hope. We couldn’t believe how wonderful this was for you! New Hope, sponsored by Show Hope, is founded by a British physician and her husband. Chinese nannies and international volunteers spend time with the children, caring for them, loving them, and even teaching preschool in English. Wait, what?! You’re spoken to in English? And you’re learning to speak it?! Daddy was so worried and had already rented several Mandarin cds, determined to learn for our next child whenever the time would come.

You were always on my mind all throughout each and every day. After several more weeks, I started to feel a peace from God – an acceptance of His will, not mine. I knew you would find your way into my arms if it was God’s will. On December 6^th, I received a message from our WACAP caseworker saying that you popped up on the shared list again and she had already requested it. I was excited, nervous, and impatient as I waited to hear from her the next day. She messaged me and said the file wasn’t on their list but was still on the shared list so she requested it once again. I told Daddy all that was happening and he asked multiple times if I had heard anything throughout the day. Hmmm, could this mean something?! Finally, I received THE message that WACAP received your file! I had chills because we had finally found you! I vowed in that moment to make it my mission to find your family. I prayed to God, begging and pleading Him to let us be that blessed family. I sent Daddy a message that said “They got him!!! 😊” and he replied, “Are the stars aligning?”. I told him I thought so and that he was the last star. This gave me hope, so much hope!

We had a family wedding that weekend so we were all excited and busy yet part of my heart was in China with you. On Sunday night, Daddy presented me with our beautiful family globe which had five stars hanging in alignment from it. I started to shake with tears in my eyes as he said through his own tears that you were our son! Daddy heard God telling him louder and louder over the last few months that you were ours. Once WACAP secured your file, he wanted to tell me but waited for a special day. And that it was – Sunday was your birthday in China – December 12^th! How thoughtful of Daddy to make the day even more meaningful! After lots and lots and lots of tears, we sat and talked with excitement about our new SON. I felt the same exact way I had felt when finding out I was pregnant – a little light headed with tingles from my head to toes. It was truly one of the happiest days of my life and I will hold onto that day until it will be bumped by the day when I hold you and promise to never let go!