Our Day at Bethel

This post will be mostly pictures from our Bethel visit.  This day was the one thing I was most looking forward to on our China trip. I was super nervous just thinking about meeting Gabe in the months leading up to travel, but when the day came I was completely at peace and not at all nervous. This is something I prayed for specifically, God answered that prayer and gave us the most perfect meeting. The entire day was just wonderful. I'm even grateful that we got to see his over tired, over stimulated, just over it, meltdown. That helped us prepare us for what was to come. I'm happy to report that we hardly ever see those now, although he did have one last night, but it was a hard day yesterday.  We've only been home for 20 days, and I think he's doing fantastic!
 And what everybody wants to see.....pictures!

                                           Gabe's crib

                                           The inside of his house

                                         The house Gabe lived in.

When he didn't get his cake fast enough

Thats all for now, There will probably be a part 2 and maybe 3 because I have so may pictures!

Home!

Well, we made it home. The China trip and the overall experience has been the hardest thing we've ever done, but we're making it, and things seem to be getting better. We arrived home on March 31st, that super long day of travel just about did us in. Three flights, four airports, layovers, customs, immigration, security, baggage claims and rechecks,  all with a miserable toddler that refused to ride in a stroller. EXHAUSTING! Mike and I agree that we never want to travel again!

When we arrived in China on March 17th we were so tired we went to sleep at 7:00 pm, and then slept terribly due to jet lag. The next day we went to visit Bethel and see Gabe in his comfortable environment. That day was by far the highlight of our trip! Just one day did not seem like enough time. I loved getting to see all the kids in person and they were all so precious. We were so thankful to have that time to see our "real" child. Gabe was so happy all day until he missed his nap and then he cried until he fell asleep. I know that happy little guy is in there and we've started to see glimpses of his true personality more the last couple days. He's started to sleep better the last two nights which helps make everybody happier. So much change for our little guy and on top of all the change, he's blind and nonverbal. It definitely makes the situation more traumatic for him, and tricky for us to figure out his needs.

I have so many pictures from our visit at Bethel! I'll have to do a post of just pictures. For now here is a few from gotcha day and after.

Thank you all again for loving and sporting us. The real journey is just beginning!