Hello, Nanjing, China!

In the words of the Who's of Whoville, "We are here! We are here! We are here!" And we are so happy to be. The smells, the sounds, the language, the food, the people, nothing seems to go so deep in my soul as China does.

We had a great trip here, though of course we were all very tired by the time we arrived at the hotel. We got to the Walla Walla airport at 4:30 a.m. (PST), and arrived at our hotel in Nanjing, China at 9:30 a.m (PST) the following day...27 hours later. Abi is truly meant to be a world traveler. She did great—loved the movies she got to watch (Mulan, Frozen and Penguins), played Doc McStuffins, colored, talked, and slept for about 10 hours of the 27-hour trip. We didn't get to eat towards the end of our trip when traveling, and Abi woke up this morning bright and early because she was hungry. She popped her cute head up from bed and said, "Mama, I'm hungry." Boy was she happy to get to eat noodles and steamed bun for breakfast!!

Here are a few pictures from our travels, and of our room too.

Abi ready for her long plane trip!

Gifts we brought for our guides and Chinese officials.

Our room

Our room

Abi watching Jake the Pirate

Bathroom in our room

On the plane

Pretending to sleep on the plane

Being silly on the plane

Abi fell asleep this way

Frozen + coloring

Abi sleeping

We got two extra seats!

Abi asleep in the Shanghai airport

Today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday), we are going to walk around the city. The city is seven million people, so by "walk around the city," I mean, we're going to walk a few blocks near our hotel. :) We LOVE our guide already, and she told us about lots of great places to eat. So we have our sights set on hot pot and dim sum with her for the next several days!!

Today I asked Abi how she is doing. She said, "Good, but I'm a little stressed." I said, "Why?" She said, "Because I just keep thinking about baby brother and I just want to go get him." :) We do too, Abi! Monday is the big day...3:30 p.m. (China time), we will be meeting our son for the first time.

I'll download photos tomorrow of our time around Nanjing today!

Love,
Heather

Let's go get Luke!

It is 11:50 p.m., and in four hours our alarm will sound and it'll be time to get up and go to China! Our bags are packed, our "to-do" lists are (mostly) done, and we are ready. See you on the other side!

Baba packing Luke's bag.

Cooper doesn't want us to go.

Here we go!

Honor

We are three full days away from getting on our airplane bound for Nanjing, China. As we get closer to our flight time of 6 a.m. on Thursday, July 30, my thoughts become more frequent of Luke's birth parents. Before we met Abi, and all I had of her were pictures, I often thought about how I would have loved to have carried her in my womb. And since we have had her, there have been a couple of times that I have yearned for that. But that has changed. You see, Abi was never meant to be in my womb. And I have come to love Abi so much that I have gained a deep honor for the woman of the womb that did carry her; a deep honor for both of her birth parents. I would never want to wish that Abi was in my womb because that would be to wish that she was not in her birth mother's womb. Already, her birth mom does not get to experience what I experience every day: a beautiful little girl who is full of zeal, passion, depth, joy, hilarity, wonder, curiosity, and love. Deep, deep love. I am so glad that Abi's birth mom at least got to experience the beauty of Abi growing in her.

Many people liken adoption to pregnancy. In well-intentioned and loving ways, they say to me, "When are you 'due'?" or, "Oh, you're traveling!? It's like you have your 'due' date!" I totally understand their hearts, and certainly felt that way when we were first headed to get Abi. But I don't at all feel that way anymore. In fact, I cringe thinking of any of this in that way. Adoption is not pregnancy. Pregnancy is not adoption. Each carry their own sets of wonder and pain. Let us honor and recognize them as they each are.

For me, I am so glad that both Abi and Luke grew in the tummies they grew in. I completely and totally honor their birth parents. Both of my children had their "due" dates, and it was the dates they were born to their birth parents. I love those dates! I am so grateful that their birth parents let their children live, that they took the crazy risk, that none of us can ever imagine, to leave their children to be found by someone else and carry the hope that their children will be taken care of.

To the unknown parents of Abi and Luke, yet known to God, I want you to know: Andrew and I honor you in every way we possibly can. I am so thankful that you gave our little ones a chance to live. And I want you to know, that together -- the two of you and the two of us -- we will raise these precious ones to live the wild and crazy and glorious life they are meant to live. We carry you and honor you in our hearts!

Introducing Luke

In July of 2012, we adopted our first child, Abigail Mei Robinson. She is originally from Wuhan, China. She was 19 months old when she came home, and she is now 4.5 years old! She is absolutely our delight, and she is very, very, very excited to be a big sister!!

In April of 2014, we began the paper chase for a little boy from China. After the big paper chase, our file was in China in mid-March. Just 9 days later, on March 26, 2015, we were matched with a sweet little boy from Lianguondong named "Lian Xin Wei." Just 13 months old, we were soooo blessed that God had matched us with this little guy, and so quickly!! These are the first pictures we saw of him.

What a cutie!!! Luke was found at 1 month old off the side of a busy highway, and he was completely blue. After a medical exam, they diagnosed him with CHD and scheduled him for open heart surgery. They weren't sure that he necessarily had CHD, but because he had pneumonia and pulmonary blood pressure, they decided to do open heart surgery to close the upper and lower holes in his heart (that would normally close naturally in the first year of life) so he could heal ASAP. He also has an extra thumb! Look how cute!

We will have it surgically removed when we come home, but until then we will enjoy his cute little extra thumb.

Before we were matched with Luke, the Lord told me that our son would have something with his heart, that he would have an extra digit on one of his hands, and that he would be Andrew's little buddy. So when we were matched with him, I knew he was ours! And the cool thing is that he was born in the same month as Andrew -- February.

We are naming our little guy, Luke Andrew Robinson. His name comes from two scriptures I felt like the Lord gave me when we were praying about him (before we were even matched):

Luke 11:13, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

and

Luke 12:32, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." 

I believe Luke, along with his generation, will walk in the Holy Spirit and take part in continuing to bring God's kingdom to earth! "May Your kingdom come, may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." (Luke 11:2)

Luke is in great health, and we are in the final countdown to go get him. We are now waiting for travel approval! A few weeks ago, we received our final update from the orphanage. Luke is now 2.5 feet tall, 18.5 pounds and has 10 teeth. :) He is also walking. :) I think he is the sweetest boy I have ever seen!!

We will let you know when we are headed to China!!

Heather, Andrew and Abi