A Birthday Party for the Girls

Elainea taking a seat at Hannah's CCD class.

Sisters playing in a chair.

Elainea on her new tricycle.

Dad and Elainea having fun on the rink.

Hannah on her new scooter.

Today well-lived...makes every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Anonymous

On Saturday the 24th we celebrated Hannah and Elainea's birthdays. We went to the Classic Fun Center in Layton so Hannah could try out her new scooter and Elainea could ride her new tricycle. We learned a very valuable lesson today. Whatever big sister has little sister wants. We ended up renting a scooter for Elainea and we were all amazed at what a little thrill seeker we have.Joe would push Elainea from behind while on roller skates and he could not go fast enough. The faster he went the more she liked it. She would jump up and down with excitement and let go of the handle bars and clap her hands. She is all about being active and enjoys any type of physical activity.Elainea is learning quickly. She does not like to sit down for longer than five minutes unless the Teletubbies are on the TV. She loves to watch LaLa play with her ball. She clearly shows that she does not care for the mischeviousness of Naughty Noo Noo the vaccuum that sometimes sucks up LaLa's ball.Elainea is also picking up some English words. She says Night-Night when it is time to go to bed, of course she says La La when watching Teletubbies. She said Lettuce at dinner the other night. When she knocks her head or pinches her fingers she will hit the object that hurt her and say "Bad", then she will come to me and say "Boo-Boo".I am so amazed at how well she is adapting to life in our family. I was so worried about bringing in a child at the age of two that had spent two of her most important years of growth in an institution. We have not seen significant behavior or attachment issues. She is very attached to her family and beginning to become attached to her extended family as well. She still has night terrors which means we still do not get very much sleep, but it is all good. She is a very loving child that loves to give hugs and kisses.We have set a date for her baptism. It will be on April 15th after the 11:30 mass at Saint Mary's Catholic Church. We are so excited for the big day. All are welcome to come and see the big event.We are preparing the house for the big Easter party at our house next week. It is tradition to have Easter at our house. The girls have been helping me prepare the house and we are all excited for Elainea to experience her first Easter egg hunt. We will definately have to post again for the each of these events over the next few weeks.We can not imagine our lives without our Little Miss Elainea and look forward to participate in her amazing life journey.

Adjusting to Home Life

Enjoying the swing with Jei Jei

Party Girls

Grandma with almost all her Grandchildren

Elainea fixing Aunt Nanny's hair

Jei Jei left holding the bag

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to the stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear on cheerfully, do all bravely, awaiting occasions, worry never; in a word to, like the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.

William Ellery Channing

It is hard to believe that we have been home for almost a month now. Our days are hardly typical yet, but we are communicating quite effectively with each other. Elainea's still likes to eat in large quantities, but she will refuse food that she does not like. She seems to prefer meat, fruit and crackers. Occasionally she will throw in a token lima bean or green bean, but otherwise veggies are met with a sour face and get spit out immediately.Elainea is fearful of animals and bugs. She likes to hide in the pantry and say "Bye-Bye" as she shuts the door. Today she went in and started screaming because she saw a spider. The poor thing will not go in there anymore. She whimpers around her Grandma's cat and does like stuffed animals.We were given the opportunity to speak at a parent's meeting for WIAA. It was difficult to talk about our experience again and it brought back many emotions. I still do not think any of us have finished processing what has happened in the last two months. We are way too busy to sit to think, analyze or reflect on what has happened. However, I would not have my life any other way. Elainea is the most precious gift we could have ever received. I am so proud of her and would not change a thing about my life now. Adoption is truly a miracle and is not to be considered as the last resort to complete a family. It was predestined for us to adopt and to have Elainea in our family. To all the families that are still waiting for their children, we can not offer any advice for the long wait, it is difficult and nothing makes it any easier. The best thing you can do is just find a coping mechanism and hang in there. Once you are on the other side you will think it is worth it!We are trying to plan for Elainea's baptism. We have scheduled it for April 15th. We bought a beautiful white dress and when we tried it on Elainea beamed from ear to ear. She ran around and twirled in the dress and did not want to take it off. We look forward to the day that she will join her Catholic family.We celebrated Pam's mother's birthday this weekend. It was wonderful. "Having Elainea come home was the best gift I could have asked for", she told us. That speaks volumes of her. Elainea is very lucky to have her as her Nei Nei. She watches Elainea on Thursdays when MaMa is at work. When Pam leaves she cries for a half hour. We are so proud! She is bonding with our family. She is also getting closer to her Aunt LeAnn (Nanny) and KayDawn (KK). They were so happy to spend some time with her during the birthday party and Elainea was just loving every minute of it. Aunt Nanny surprised us with a beautiful scrapbook derived from our blog entries. It is so well put together and Elainea loves to look at the pictures in it. How wonderful it is to have such family support. Both sides of our family have welcomed her with open arms and hearts. Our family would not be complete without her. All of our family members on both sides are truly grateful for God's grace and blessing of our newest family member.

Home is Where the Heart Is

A Huge Welcome Home

Big Girl in Mama's Shoes

Laundry can be Fun

Spinning Easter Eggs

Eating Lunch with Dad

I may not be rich in material terms, but... I feel right in spirit, that's all that counts to me.
Amelia Rudolph

We have been home for over a week and things are going well. We have fabulous neighbors, friends and family that are making sure of it. It is amazing how much we have gained from the adoption process, and I am not just talking about a daughter. This has truly been a journey of faith and love. We have been given so much, probably more than we deserve. We have definitely not the same people that boarded a plane in January. We have seen how people live that have absolutely nothing, not even hope. Our troubles seem to pale in comparison.
Elainea looks so much different than when we first saw her. It is amazing, but she sounds different too. Her cries no longer ring with desperation and she laughs all the time. Her eyes are full of life and there is hardly any moments where the sadness comes back. The night terrors are calming down. She actually had one night where she only woke up crying only once. She still eats more than any one else in the family, and weighs three pounds less than her referral said she did after three weeks of continuous eating! Physically she looks more robust and is starting to get baby fat on her legs.
The biggest change we have noticed lately is in the sister relationship. Elainea initially saw Hannah as competition. This seems consistent with her history in an orphanage. She would watch Hannah and try to emulate her, but really did not interact with her. She would try to prevent Hannah from getting any food or attention that she was craving. This was heart-breaking for Hannah. Slowly her attitude is changing. She now likes to interact with Hannah and shows genuine affection for her.
The most amazing part of this is how much they are alike. Both of them are funny, outgoing, precocious, and delightful. They both have a special ability to make people happy. I would love to bottle each of their laughs and make it available for anyone having a bad day. No one could be sad when either one of them laugh.
This whole experience would make a great Mastercard commercial that would go something like this:
3 Roundtrip tickets to China - $3,000
4 day Beijing tour - $400
1 orphanage donation - $3200
Forever sisters – priceless.
I have to explain one of the pictures. Every year before Easter we break out the plastic Easter eggs and spin them on the tile floor. Do not even ask how we figured this out, but it is great fun. Hannah starts talking about getting them out the day after Christmas. We finally decided that it is time. Every one should try Easter egg spinning at least once in their lifetime!

We are finally home

A view of SLC skyline from the airport.

Elainea playing with toys.

Elainea doing a Brat Doll impersonation.

Trying to get Moms attention.

Playing with Daddy.

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.
Ray Bradbury

We finally arrived home last Saturday night. Since then life has been a blur. We wake up wondering what hotel and city we are at, followed by a short relief when we realize that we are home. We use the term “wake up” lightly as one child is on US time and the other is on China time. The parents have found a happy medium somewhere in the middle. Not that it does us any good with kids up 24 hrs a day.
The days are full of appointments and ‘catching up’ with all of the stuff we put on the backburner while we were in China. Most of all our days are full of laughter and fun as we get to know our newest member.
We went to the doctor to have all of the blood tests redone. They tried to draw blood from Elainea at the doctor’s office and gave up and sent us to the hospital. They successfully drew her blood so it was back to the doctor’s office to get her immunizations. Poor Elainea. She thinks we live out of hotels and spend the day on a bus, plane or in a doctor’s office!
We have some wonderful news. All of the American blood tests have come back and Elainea is healthy. She does not have any type of blood-borne disease. What a relief for our family.
Meanwhile, Elainea is blooming more and more everyday. When we first got her there was an air of sadness about her with intermittent spurts of tantrums or happiness, with an underlying layer of sadness. That is slowly going away. She smiles frequently and her eyes now smile. She is so funny and smart. She said her first American word yesterday “shoe”. (We are dismissing MaMa and DaDa because she came with those). She loves to take a bath and brush her teeth. She sits in her highchair at home, but forget it when you are out. She is so helpful. She will layout her diaper pad and diaper when she needs to be changed. She is a typical American girl because she fights to answer the phone. When it rings all the girls jump and race to the phone! Hannah knows better than to answer it, but she thinks it is fun to race Elainea to the phone.
When we arrived home we once again realized what wonderful neighbors we have. There were balloons on the mailbox and a huge sign on the garage welcoming us home. Some other dear neighbors brought us in a few groceries to get us by for a couple of days. This whole experience has changed all of us. We came back from China better people than when we left. No longer will we ever take for granted what we have in our lives. We have a reaffirmed belief in the goodness of people and are grateful for the wonderful friends and family we have.
Life is good for the Rockwell family and we again send out a heartfelt thanks to all of those people that helped us make this happen.

The Prayers Have Been Answered

A Street by the White Swan Hotel

Girls playing in the hotel room

Playing in thr Swan Room

Had to have a red couch photo

Hannah at the Pearl Market

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.
Ursula K. LeGuin

Now that the crisis is over we should elaborate a little on the events of the past few days. We are all in LA and recovering from the flight. We ate a huge pizza and enjoying the fact that we do not have to boil the water before we brush our teeth!Now to fill you in… in a nutshell we found out the day before we had our consulate appointment and were to fly home that there is documentation that Elainea has Hepatitis C. We were at the conclusion of a celebration dinner with the other five families that have shared our journey, when our guide came to us and gave us Elainea’s immunization record and told us that it states that Elainea was not vaccinated for Hep B because she has contracted Hepatitis C. We walked back to the hotel crying as we knew this changed everything.We immediately set an appointment to get Elainea’s blood checked. We know that not everyone can understand our decision making process or perspective on this, but we needed to do what was best for our family and for Elainea. Having Hepatitis C would classify Elainea as a special needs child. We did not apply for a special needs child because we understand our own abilities and limitations. We still would have accepted her given some other type of issues, but this one we really needed to consider. This was one of the greatest challenges we faced as a family.During this process there was a silver lining. I can not begin to tell you how touched we are by all of the love and support. After we heard that she could have Hep C a friend told me that “It may be hard to see God’s hand in all of this, but keep in mind that God does not make mistakes, just people do.” Well I am telling you we did experience God in all of this. God planned the special group of families that would travel together and become friends. We saw God when our family group celebrated a Sunday devotional together to celebrate Him and the miracles that we just received in our adoption children. We saw God when we prayed with the Baptists when we received the news. We saw God when we received a sacramental blessing from three Priesthood holders in the LDS faith. We saw God when we received a flood of emails of support from our family, friends, agency, and soon-to-be friends. We saw God when he gave us support when we prayed for his grace to be with us. God was with us when we trusted his will and took our leap of faith with only preliminary results.
Finally we can say that even though there was the trial, eventually the grace of God allowed for the completion of our family.
We will post more about the return home tomorrow. For now please accept our sincere thanks for all of your love and support.
Sincerely,The Rockwells ~ Joe, Pam, Hannah and Elainea

A Leap of Faith

Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come. Lucy Larcom

We took a huge leap of faith today. We finished processing the paperwork and for better or worse she our offically our girl and will be coming home with us! We based our decision of the preliminary test results due to the fact that we are faced with the Chinese New Year and the whole country will shut down in a matter of hours, and the final results will not be available until after the shutdown. That puts us in China for another week if we did not request her visa this morning.
We are flying into LA tonight and will return to SLC on February 17th at 6:07 pm. We will talk to you again when we are in the States!
All Our Love,
The RockwellsJoe, Pam, Hannah and Elainea.

A Ray of Hope

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.Dale Carnegie

Based on the volume of email we are receiving we know that many people are awaiting to hear news on our situation. Although we are not out of the woods yet, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for Elainea.
The preliminary results are back and they are very favorable. We still are waiting for a DNA marker test which should be back in about twelve hours. When these results come back things are going to happen in rapid fire succession and so we may not be able to post the results for a while. If the results come back negative then we will be able to bring Elainea home with us. If they come back positive then we will need to spend several hours "undoing" paperwork before hopping on a plane home.
We just received word that Grandma made it home safely and that helps us feel better. Hannah misses her Grandma and can't wait to see her at the airport. Speaking of Hannah Joe and I have to say that we have an awesome kid. She has been so understanding of the circumstances and has been so brave about everything. She flairs up every once in a while, but for the most part she has handled this situation with a strength and courage that is not typical of a four-year-old.
As far as Joe and I are concerned we are doing as well as can be expected. Between crying a river of tears, fighting back nausea and praying on our sore knees we are working through this whole thing. In the mean time Elainea is blossoming. She has the funniest personality! When she smiles she does it with her whole face bringing happiness to those around her. Her laugh is totally contagious and she looks up to her big sister and tries to do everything that she does.
Elainea still eats her weight everyday, but there is small gaps between the perpetual snacking now. She is getting very picky about what she eats and so we are going to have to reel her in once we get home (hopefully).
We have packed our bags so we can hit the ground running tomorrow. We strategically packed Elainea's things on top so they can be gathered to go back with her if need be. We love her so much and can not picture our lives without her at this point. The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs is asking us some very heavy questions such as: "Would you like to stay for another three weeks to get another referral", our resounding response is 'no'. If it comes to that we need to come home and regroup and continue on from there. We need to work through what will be an unconsolable loss of one of our daughters. We thank all of our family and friends and look forward to seeing you soon.