2.25.2010

Lift Up in Prayer!


One of Bei's closest little playmates is our little friend Nicholas, who we affectionately call Nick Nick. He is a train obsessed little boy just like Bei. As long as the two of them have a train to play with, they both are happy happy! Becky and I met at music Monday's and immediately had a connection, we both are stay at home moms, both were in corporate America previously, and both our boys are adopted. Nick is from Russia, but lived close to the China border. When Nick came home they found out that he had no sight in his left eye and that there is cancer in his right eye. He immediately went through a round of chemo. Up until February, Nick had great reports from his monthly exams, but now the cancer is back. So please lift our very sweet little train loving friend up in prayer for healing. I've pasted the following excerpt and address from Nick's caringbridge website if you are interested in following along with their journey.
This CaringBridge site has been created to keep friends and family updated about our son Nicholas. At 14 months of age, he was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare childhood cancer in which cancer cells form in the tissues of the retina. Thank you again for all of your thoughts, cards, prayers and support. We know everyone is sending positive energy to us & Nicholas!

2.19.2010

Drumroll please....


We would like to re-introduce you to...Alexander Kai Krueger! I had to corner Dan, then tie him to the couch, while I sat on him and went through a baby book full of names. It was between Samuel and Alexander and Dan was the deciding vote. We both wanted to change his middle name, since Kong is so harsh sounding, so we did...you never know if you are doing the right thing or not... Most recently, Bei wanted us to name him Thomas, Henry or Gordon...for those of you not currently living in "little boy land", they are the names of the Thomas the Tank Engine trains.
Many homes and institutions don't have heat, so I think they put anything on the children to keep them warm...even hot pink pants on a little boy! He has at least four layers of clothes on him and I checked the temp in Wuyishan the day that we received the pictures and it was in the low 50's. He is up in a mountainous region of the country and so it may be damp and cold.
Many of the pictures that we have received, he has been in split pants, so his " unit and boys" are exposed, so I obviously haven't posted any of those. I'm not really sure how split pants work except to say that many of the kids wear crotchless clothes, with no diapers or underwear. So the child goes to the bathroom where ever he is at the moment and then the caregivers just cleans it up. I have read blogs where people said they were eating at a restaurant and some little toddler waddled over and pooped under their table!!! And nobody in China thought this was odd...they just cleaned it up. We did see split pants, but not in action...lucky for us!

2.16.2010

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!



Since tomorrow is this little guys birthday, I wanted to start this post with..."And his formal name is....", but we still haven't agreed upon a name for him. So, he continues to be called "Baby Brother" for right now. We recently found out that the orphanage that he is at only has 4 other children in it. A five year old, an eight year old and two sixteen year olds. Two of the 4 children have cerebral palsy, but I don't know which ones. Plus, I don't know if they are girls or boys. This information goes hand in hand with the fact that I haven't been able to find a family that has adopted from his orphanage in any of the yahoo groups that I am on. I found this incredibly interesting that this orphanage that doesn't adopt out any children, has taken the time and the resource to ensure that our little guy gets adopted out. He was also found with a birthnote, which I hope to obtain prior to the adoption day. His referral papers specifically stated that they hope that he finds love and happiness with a foreign family. He is currently living with a foster family that I can tell by the pictures are an older couple. When we have requested information they have readily agreed to pictures and updates. I think they really love him, but want something different for him. For some reason this all feels very freeing to me. There is a level of guilt that I have felt about adopting another persons child. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that any mother would choose to give up their child. With Bei, I have waves of sadness for his parents, especially his mother. She spent a year loving that little boy and all I keep thinking is that she chose the gift of life for my little man. I owe her or someone big time!! We have not even broached the subject with Bei regarding his birth mom. He knows he is adopted, and knows that we went to China to get him. He hasn't asked anything about it. He saw my sister - in -law pregnant with Anna Maria and said he was in a tummy too, but he didn't say who's tummy and I'm such a chicken little, that I didn't push it. We may be getting closer to the fact that we need to discuss more detail with him, since the Gotcha Day may be very confusing for him...or then again...maybe not! Oh well lots to think about and for right now, I just want to sign off by saying Happy Birthday to my sweet little one year old!!!

2.04.2010

Pictures! Pictures! And more Pictures!

Hat, Cat, Mat
I was cooking and Bei walked up to me and said "I wrote Hat, where's my hat?". And I said "who taught you that?" He said "Joe." And I knew it was Joe from Blue's Clue's. Then he said "what else?" So I said "Cat with a C..."..;that is the one that looks like vat. Then he said "what else? I said "Mat with a M..." by this time he was losing interest. Not bad for a 3 year old who was turning 4 in the next few days.
and were very happy to share their new look.

The boys enjoyed a new way of eating their cake...


Our friends Becky and Nick Nick came over for cake and ice cream.



...and then rode the rides for several hours.




We went out to eat at Crave at the Mall of America...




Bei was so excited to wake up and see all his presents on his birthday! He very much about quantity over quality. Both at Christmas and his birthday first thing he did was count how many presents was given.







Bei's first ride!






Three generation of snowmobile riders!









2.01.2010

Letter Seeking Confirmation

This picture was the first update picture that we received after we confirmed that we would take Kang. We received this in September and he was 7 months old.



Well I am very excited to report that we are finally in our 3rd trimester of pregnancy! Tomorrow we will receive the official Letter Seeking Confirmation stating that Wu Zheng Kang is ours! So what happens next you may ask??? More of the same...more rush rush paperwork out the door, waiting to be approved by the US Government, Visa applications, Consulate appointments and eventually our travel dates approximately 3 months from now.
It is both exciting and stressful at the same time.

We received the following update in November, however, I thought I would share it with you:

Now, he is 9 months old. He could sit up with the hold of caretakers. Due to the cold weather, he wears a lot of clothes, and he could not try to crawl with so thick clothes. He could control his head now. He has a ready smile, and even can laugh aloud with two dimples. He is a very lovely little boy. Caretakers and neighbors all love him very much. They give him some gifts, like clothes and toys, and they love to hug him in the arms. He is very cute now and murmurs something. When in the crib, he plays with his two feet, kicking all the time with funny. He loves to watch TV, go outsides on the street and enjoy sunshine. When the weather is not good, he will be unhappy because he could not go outsides. He is a little strong man and he never cries out when he gets immunization shots.

Currently, his height is 27.58 inches, head circumference is 16.94 inches, chest circumference is 17.34 inches, weight is 17.6 pounds (he is a little thinner due to diarrhoea in these days), and foot length is 4.73 inches. He has 4 teeth totally, 2 upper teeth and 2 lower teeth. He eats porridge, milupa, eggs and some noodles, etc. He drinks milk 5-6 times per day. He generally goes to bed at 22:00 pm, and wakes up in the midnight if he feels hungry or has a pee. He gets up at 8:00 am, and later, he enjoys nap at 10:00 am for an hour. He has noon nap from 13:00 pm to 16:00 pm.


Based on these reports Kang might be bigger than Bei was at 27 months!