Medical Exam

Well, we have had quite an interesting day. Ri had his medical exam and passed. He didn't like it much, but he handled himself well. He measured 33 inches and weighed 23.4 pounds. He still has a heart murmur, though we were not surprised. We were told that before we came to China. The doctor said it was not serious, but we should have him seen when we get to the states. I kind of giggled simply because that is one of the first things we are planning to do.

What made the day interesting is why I am asking for more prayer. Jacob is having a very hard time. I will not go into details simply for his sake. But he has me very concerned. At one point, I wondered if we should get him to a doctor, but we are tring to ride it out. He is in a lot of pain, so please pray for him. And Ri is spending more time with cramps and thinking he has to go to the bathroom, so we are on the potty ALL the time. He sits and tries, then gets off, walks 2-3 steps and locks his knees and starts whining.... so we put him back on the potty. After 15-20 minutes of this,and several successes during that time, we are finally finished... only to start the process all over again 1/2 hour later. Ri also has a funny spot on his leg that is beginning to look bad, we aren't sure what it is, but it seems to be getting worse as the day goes on. And now, Emily is feeling sick too. So.. we have had 3 kids not doing so well. We could use some prayer. I really do not want to have to take any of them to the doctor here. I discovered there is a clinic at the White Swan Hotel and there is a Western Clinic at the Garden Hotel. We will see how Jacob is tomorrow morning. We may have no choice by then.

We are counting down the days. We only have 3 nights left ... boy it is hard to believe. I feel like this trip has gone by very quickly. I am glad for that, and in an odd way, very sad for that. Again, I am faced with the fact that China is a part of 2 of our children's lives. It makes me sad to take them away from that.

We have spent a lot of time on Shaimen Island.

Just a reminder, if you want to see all the pictuers we have taken from our journey so far, just go to our other site: www.bringinghomeelizabeth.blogspot.com

It is 6:41 am and the little ones are still sleeping. Ri must have been exhausted! He only took a 20 minute nap yesterday, and that was on Marks shoulder. I think he was afraid of missing anything. He laughed and laughed and ran and ran all day long. At night, he fell asleep in my arms. When I put him in his crib, he sreamed and screamed. Mark took over and comforted him to sleep while he was in the crib. I think he is loving all that he is doing. He and Elizabeth are becoming quite the team. She is like a little mother to him though. :)

Today is his physical. Just knowing him so far, I think he will be a trooper through it. We will see. Well, Elizabeth is now waking up. I will post more later.

Sunday - a visit to another park

Ok, I think these 2 pictures are just priceless. AFter a long hard day of playing at the park and shopping at the "mall"... the 2 little ones crawled up into mom and dads bed to watch Lilo and Stitch. Pretty Cute!!




















What a gorgeous park we visited today. The kids all loved it. The favorite spot was the mist There were 2 huge dragons with mist coming out of the ground. It was Elizabeth's favorite thing. She would go in and out of the mist, by the time we were done, with the rain and the mist, she was soaked! The dress she is wearing is one that Mark picked out. We are very short on clothes for Ri and for ElizABETH (us too). It is so hot that our shirts don't last the entire day, let alone 2 or 3 days. We just keep buying more shirts simply because it costs as much to buy a new one here as to do laundry. The little ones have gone through their clothes quicker then us. It has been had finding boy clothes, but I did find some today. The shoes Elizabeh is wearing are the ones that I sent over to Ri a few months ago. They are way to big for him. Elizabeth's shoes ended up needing to be thrown away. We tried to get her new shoes last night,but she ended up having a meltdown and I just walked away instead of guessing on her size.

It is raining very hard, along with thunderstorms, so we are stuck inside. the boys are pretty bummed because they were looking forward tothe pool. That's ok, though. We can use the rest. The pictures are from the hotel and from are visit to the park.

It is 7:00 am for us and everyone but me is sleeping, at least all those in my room. I love it when I have time to just think. This morning, we would generally be getting everyone ready for church. I think often, we take it for granted. We do the same routine every Sunday morning, knowing that we have a place to go to have fellowship with our fellow believers, worship our Lord and SAvior and learn from someone God has chosen to lead us. We don't put much thought into what others around the world face or that we may not have a place to do just that. I think so often we take the ocmfort of our christianity and forget what Christ truly has done for us.
Today, I can not get my children ready for services. Our son has never attended a church, though I am confident that someone has whispered the name of Christ to him. Why am I confident? Because that was a prayer of mine for both Elizabeth and for Ri. This morning, I am just simply reminded that I take my faith for granted.
I have stated over and over again that the adoption of our children reminds me so much of the adoption of us into God's family. Ri is such a perfect pictures of that. You see, we chose Ri. He had no idea that he even needed a family, let alone did that a family was adopting him. He had no idea that we were on the other side of the world filling out all the paperwork and orchestrating every detail so that on May 21st, Liu Ri Chen would be "born" into our family and would become Paul Liu Ri Chen Miller. At that very moment, his whole future changed, his inheritance changed, his life changed. Just like us before we knew Jesus Christ as our savior and were "born" into God's family. God was orchestrating every detail. He was sending people into our life to teach us about Him and His son. He was working things to a point so that one day we would become his child. Before we are saved, we have no idea any of that is happening. ... just like Ri. And on the day that we are saved, our whole life changed, our inheritance changed, our future changed.

Many of you have seen the picture of Ri screaming after our visit to the orphanage, wanting to go back to what he had. Well, I have thought of that a lot since then. His reaction is much like some of ours when we get saved. We are scared to death of what is happening, then all of a sudden when we get a taste of our old life, we begin kicking and screaming. ... thinking that what we had is what we want. If we are God's child, He will hold onto us just like Mark held onto Ri. And when we are done kicking and screaming to go back, we will begin to realize the Love of our Father and realize that His family is where we belong and that we never want to go back to how it use to be. Sometimes, that takes a long time, and sometimes it is very quick. I don't know when Ri will know that he is where he belongs and never want to go back... but I know it will happen.

I am humbled this morning that God would allow me to be the wife of Mark and the mother of 6 wonderful children. I am overwhelmed at his gifts and his mercy in my life. I am overwhelmed that I was, a long time ago, just like my son. I was a child who was lost and enjoying my life just the way it was. When God brought me to a point of recieving his gift and becoming His child.... much like Ri... I did some kicking and screaming. It took some time before I realized what being in God's family truly was all about. It took time for me to trust God's love and realize what I had. Now, you couldn't pay to go back to the life I was living.

Well, I guess I have written enough for this morning. I long to be in church with my church family. May each of you feel the love of God today.

I promised Mamaw that I would take a lot of pictures today. It was raining most of the day yesterday, so Ididn't take many.

A brand new day always seems to help me.. that and prayers from my friends. I am feeling much less overwhelmed. Looking at 16 pieces of luggage in small rooms was putting my senses on overload. I can't imagine what Ri's senses must be going through! Elizabeth's too... as well as the other 4 kids. It is amazing how God carries you through every step. Thanks for the wonderful words of encouragement.

Guangzhou is lively too. We went to the same temple we went to last time. Jacob was thrilled because he found a Chinese instrument to bring home. That was his goal. The instrument is very cool sounding. He has spent much time trying to figure out how to make different sounds on it. If you blow into is, every hole makes the same sound, but when the gentleman played it, the sounds were amazing! It was absolutely beautiful. Sam figured out how to make a few different sounds. At first, it sounds like an organ or a horn blowing (car horn - one in China). He can not wait to show Mr. & Mrs. McCutcheon.

We were "reunited" with the family who met us in Beijing. They are doing really well. It has been quite an adjustment for their 3 1/2 year old son, but he seems to be doing well now. It has been great seeing them. There are several families in our hotel who have just adopted children. Allthe kids are up in the pool playing with another families kids. That is so nice, especially for the boys.

Ri is doing very well. He has laughed and laughed and laughed. It has been fun to watch him. Elizabeth is getting worn out. She has been so tough! I am very thankful. But I think it is catching up with her. Many more meltdowns and much more needed Mommy time. I crack up at her often these days. She is doing alot of what Ri does. The past few days we have caught her trying to walk like Ri. She also stands and tries to sway like he does. It is very funny.

The pictures above are from our last night in Fouzou.

Well, we have made it to our last point. Both the littles did wonderful on the trip. We did not make it into Guangzhou until 9:10. When we arrived, we had 6 very tired kids. Elizabeth has reached all that she can take. She screamed almost the entire trip to the hotel(35-40 minutes). She woke up last night and screamed uncontrollably for 15 minutes or so. She is wiped out She has been such a little trooper. Everywhere she goes, she wants to walk very independently. Even at the airport, she insists on dragging along one of the carry ons. It is a cute site Ri did very well. All Mark had to do on the plane was feed him.

Please pray for me, I think I am beginning to get travel weary. Elizabeths screaming was very hard on me. The hotel we are in has very small rooms and very paperthin windows/walls. We heard the street traffic all night. Though we have 3 rooms here, our luggage is overwhelming our rooms. I woul dlike to finish our trip with a great attitude.

I will post more later, I just wanted everyone to know we made it safely!

a note to Ruth and Patrick

Ruth and Patrick,

I am so sorry that we will not be there for your wedding. You are in our thoughts and prayers. The only thing that would have ever kept me from coming is our son. I ache not being there on your precious day. May God bless every moment of your life together. Keep God in the center. Never take your eyes off of Him. Through every up and down, He will be faithful. If you keep Jesus Christ as your "glue", you will have a blessed marriage. I love you, Ruth! Enjoy your day. I will be thinking of you all day!

Well, it is the last day for us in Fouzou. I have to say that I am very excited about going forward in our journey. If you are reading this and will be visiting China (Jennifer G.), I want to encourage you to be adventurous. What a thrill it is to experience China and the culture it has to offer. Mark, Emily, Elizabeth, Ri and I walked the city last night It was so much fun. Walking the streets is so different from the States. The cars, trucks, buses, taxi's are crazy drivers. There are no rules about driving around here (or so it seems). We walk on what seems to be sidewalks, but have been almost run over by motorcycles, scootes, and yes..even cars. They all drive right on the sidewalks and really don't watch too closely for walkers. There have been countless times I have walked almost straight into the path of a motorcycle because I am not expecting one to be on a sidewalk. ANd to cross the street is an adventure. There really are not crosswalks or traffic signals, you just literally take you life into your hands and walk... while cars and motorscooters/cycles are coming full speed. Often, there are very few breaks in the traffic to walk across safely. To me, that is a fun adventure. I love how active the streets are. I love the noise, the chaos (yes... that's way I have 6 kids!), the adventure!

In our walk last night, we visited a few of the stores along the way. It was fun to see everything. Emily was loving the dresses and the clothes. We went into a grocery store and was able to find some much needed sippy cups (well, I thought they were sippy cups anyways - they were close), and some banannas (which Ri and Elizabeth loved), some juice for the little ones, and a few other needed items. We then walked to pizza hut and ordered 2 pizzas and then caught a taxi home. Riding in cars around here is as adventurous as walking and seemingly much more dangerous! There are 3 lanes of traffic converging into one all the time. At any point, you might see 2 or 3 vehicles coming straight at you with 2 or 3 walkers and a scooter at the same time! I can't help but laugh,sit back and enjoy. I am AMAZED at how I have never seen an accident or a killed pedestrian :)... meaning ME!!

Well, Ri is doing fantastic. Elizabeth has been amazing!!!!!! I can not believe how much she has "grown up" since we came here. She is so independent and very, very little jealousy. She loves Ri. The two of them are beginning to laugh and play together. They are very funny to watch. Ri is laughing out loud and smiling like crazy now. He has the cutest dimples. I think we have finally figured out when he has to use the potty. WE were successful several times last night. He seems much relieved to be able to not use his diaper. Today, for the first time since we have had him, his stool is much more solid. (sorry for the description, but I have been sharing the other side so I wanted to tell you that your prayers are being answered!).

Well, I will be off line at noon today (midnight your time). We will not be back on until we reach Guangzhou. We miss everyone and are anxious to move on. Jennifer G... your time is coming and you will be holding little Zoe! I will be anxious to follow your blog!

Love to everyone. God is faithful, just, awesome, and LIVING!!!

Continue blog from the orphanage visit

to see all our pictures, go to: www.bringinghomeelizabeth.blogspot.com
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I am so sorry for in and outs of my blogging, but I am trying to work it around 6 kids and our schedule. It gets crazy at times. If you can, I think Erin, Sam, and Elizabeth have either eaten something bad or have whatever Ri has. So, please pray for them all.

BAck to my thoughts on the orphanage visit. I am so very thankful that God has called our family to bring another child home. There are times I wonder why? Why on earth would God entrust us to raise 6 children! Why on earth would He call us to go to China again... And as I mentioned in my earlier post.. I have realized some things about myself that I do not like. I realized that I hestitated once we had our precious son in our arms. He is so underdeveloped, so weak,.. there is much we do not know. All of a sudden, I was overwhelmed with all the possibilities that this little one might face with his health. God began to show me about myself and I didn't like it. Here was a precious child and I was only concerned about myself.

Well, yesterday, God allowed me to see Ri as Gods sees me... an imperfect child who needs a Father. Oh how I fell in love with Ri yesteday! Oh how I longed to love him and show him the love of Christ. Oh how I didn't care anymore about his health or the impact it might have on me... I just cared for him... a child without a mother or a father. I ached for what his life has been so far. I ached that he had not had the love of a father or mother or 5 brothers and sisters!

It was so overwhelming to see the place that God had chosen for our son to be raised the first 2 1/2 years of his life. Ri knew nothing but this home. It was home to him and he was very happy. I couldn't help but be reminded again of our condition before we know Jesus Christ as our own personal savior. We think that life is good and we are happy and do not need anything else. It is not until we are given the love of a heavenly Father through Jesus Christ that we realize true happiness. It is then that we do not want to go back to the way it was. Ri will, one day, feel the same about us.

So, I praise God for loving me. I praise Him for my beautiful... VERY LARGE.. family. I am so blessed to have 6 incredible children. I am blessed beyond anything I can imagine. And I am so blessed to have a husband who leads me and reminds me of Gods love for me. Mark and I have been given a gift in our marriage and our children.

So, now that i have shared some of what God has shown me about myself, I want to share a little more about Ri's orphanage. Xiamen is considered a very rich city. It truly is beautiful. I am not sure of how much Ri ever got outside or ever ventured from those 3 rooms, but I do know that it was his home. I already mentioned the babies in the pink cribs. I thank God that there is a place for these children to go and be taken care of. I was told yesterday that the orphanage is applying for money to have 18 surgeries taken care of. Please pray they recieve that money! Ri was one who recieved his surgery to save hislife. If the money had not been there, our son may not be alive today.

There was a beautiful American woman who volunteers in the orphanage who happened to be there when we were. I do not know much about how often or anything like that, but I pray that the orphanage can have many, many more volunteers who would be able to come and just play with the children! The children seem to long to have someone to play with them. The nannies must have their hands full just keeping up with the daily schedule. The kids lit up when we hugged them or played with them.

There was a second room that had several steel cribs with older babies in them. I do not know if Ri slept in there or not. I can't believe I didn't ask where he slept! The third room seemed to be a play room with a tv. It was small. Off the room was an area that seemed to be similar to squatty potties only one long area. This is where Ri pottied. There was one little one sitting on a potty the entire time that we were there. She never moved from it and by the time we left she was crying because she had been successful.

I can not stress enough that I believe the orphanage does an excellent job with the children. It must be quite a task taking care of so many on a limited amount of funds. It was clean and the kids seemed loved as much as they could be from people who took care of them. But seeing it all, I believe that there is not enough time to give a child the stimulation they need to develop. I praise God because He is the one who has taken care of Ri. We are so blessed to have the privelidge to raise him! Oh how humbled I am and how in awe I am of how God works in lives. I can't wait to watch Ri grow and develop. I am looking forward to some very exciting things!

Oh, by the way... Ri is beginning to share with Elizabeth some. Yipppee. That is progress. Plus, he is beginning to walk everywhere and even run a little bit. He kicked a balloon over and over this morning. The 2 littles ones had a ball playing with a balloon. :) He also loves the little travel lite bright set I brought and loves the bugs that I brought that link together.

Kelly G - thanks for your emails, they mean the world to me. To answer your question, I think he is a 12 month pant/short and a 12 mnth or 18 month shirt. His feet are very, very small. I am thinking 3 or 4. Elizabeth is in 5 1/2 - 6.

Well, thanks for sharing in our journey. It is certainly exciting! I can't believe God is allowing us to experience another child's life!

We took a visit to a park today. The picture of Sam holding something is an eel. Yes, they were right on the edge of the water.. several of them! We saw people burning incense and money again, right there on the beach. It was very hot and humid, thus it would explainthe sweat pouring off of Elizabeth's head!

Ri is doing so well today. He has warmed up to all of us. I thank Jacob is somewhat relieved! He still is battling diarhea. It is not often, but when it happens, he blows through everything. I feel so badly for him. He has no way of telling us he has to go. He is potty trained, but he just gets very upset and panicks when it happens I am starting to put his facial expressions to his need to go to the bathroom, but he is pretty terrified of a western toilet.

After a trip to the park, we went to what we would consider an outdoor mall. There were 100's of stores to visit.