DSW is up in our room with two DD's, she has not been feeling well the past two days. I was not feeling well either so I took Cipro and had an allergic reaction. We went to the zoo yesterday it was very nice. Brooke had a great time especially with our guide AMY. Katie cried for the entire 2 hours. Then we went to Pizza Hut, and it was pretty good. Today we went to the Island and did some shopping. We tried a stroller for the first time, and Katie loved it. We were there for 3 hours with no crying. Then we went to McDonalds, again :(.
We saw one of the families we met in Beijing, we are excited about seeing all the babies. Tomorrow is the doctors appointments with all the families. Seven more days to go until we go home. We can't wait we miss you boys, and we were so happy to talk to all 4 of you this morning.

More on Katie

My post yesterday covered alot so I thought I would give some more info on Katie. She has such a cute smile, we have yet to hear a belly laugh but know it will come soon. We have concerns about her lack of eating. She drinks her bottle well and we mix rice cereal in it as that is what the orphanage did. Our guide told us she should be eating some baby food, that formula is not enough, which is what we had also thought. She will have nothing to do with it. Not baby food or rice conjee, which is what babies eat in China. She is very cautious of touching anything. This morning at breakfast was the first time she has held something in her hand, her ladybug brush which she loves. She loves when we brush her hair. She will touch her head and wait for us to brush it. It has turned into a game. We've had her 2 nights now and she has slept through the night both of them. We wake up and can hear her stirring but she sleeps well. She hasn't pulled herself up yet but can crawl. Brooke is absolutely loving being a big sister.

We are missing our boys so much at home. We are ready to come home already. Don't get me wrong, we are enjoying the people and sights, but miss our boys and can't wait to come home and be a family, ALL of us together. The time we have here is good though as we have so much together time with little responsibilites/chores, so we can focus on Katie and earning her trust.

Jeff and Brooke are having a really hard time with the time change. It was a struggle to keep Brooke up until 6:30 last night and Jeff almost made it to 7. This leaves mom and Katie. Katie goes to sleep on her own approx 8 pm. When I say on her own I mean she cries when I try and rock her. We have rocked all 5 of our babies to sleep and didn't think differently about #6, however at this stage Katie will have nothing to do with it.I know that as time goes on things will probably change after she has her surgeries, or maybe not. Her nanny said she is very stubborn and we can see that. So we have now another stubborn Walker. haha

Thank you for your emails and prayers, we really appreciate them. Its funny how we can be half way around the world and feel some closeness from home.

Gotcha Day

Gotcha day!!!

We are unable to get on blogspot right now so I have asked my sons at home to post this for me.

I need to recap from Sunday first. We went to the Beijing International Christian Church. We were so amazed to walk in and here the worship music playing. The same songs we sing at our church. We felt at home half way around the world. We also were told by our local guide that most Americans think and are told that you cannot be a Christian in China and that is not true. In China you can choose your religion, however 50% have no religion, and the rest consist of Buddism which has the highest and then there is Christian, Jewish, and one more, I just can't think of right this second. After that we went to a pearl factory, which let me say with the American dollar losing its value we did not get the deals we got last time. We did do some Christmas shopping there though as well as bought Katie her pearls for her wedding day as we bought the boys, Brooke and myself pearls last time. After that we went to lunch and then to jade store. After that it was the Great Wall! Brooke loved climbing all those stairs with another families daughter Marla, who let me say is the sweetest 14 yo girl! She has been so good to Brooke and all the other younger children, she will be a great big sister to her new little sister. Daddy climbed the wall, but mommy stayed behind for the majority, I just was too tired. We(I) slept very little,I am having a difficult time adjusting to the time. We then went for dinner, went back to the hotel room for a quick 15 minute nap, and I'm not kidding, we had 25 minutes from the time we got to the hotel till we had to be back on the bus, so 15 minutes is what we got. Everyone was so tired but the Chinese Acrobat show is amazing, everyone in our group had a hard time staying awake, and some didn't, including Brooke. We got back to the hotel at approx 8:40 and had to have our luggage ready at 10 pm, as it was going ahead of us. We all except a couple of families had to be ready to go to the airport at 5:30 a.m. We were all so excited and nervous, and crying tears of joy! We met and flew with another family from our agency who adopted their precious 3 yo son last week from Beijing and were heading to Guangzhou to finish everything before leaving this coming Saturday. When we arrived we were so excited to be greeted by our guide Amy!! She was our guide last time and is now married to Linaker our national guide. So have a darling 13 month old daughter. Amy filled us in on what was happening and we checked into the hotel, grabbed our paperwork and $ needed and headed to the Civil Affairs office. We were the first ones there. We actually saw the babies come in!! After awhile of waiting which really wasn't that long but seemed like it they started to call us by family name. When we saw Katie we couldn't believe how small she was. She wasn't sure at all about us. Her nannies, 1 in particular you could tell loves her very much. She is older and knew alot about Yin Yin as they call her. She wanted to hold her once again before they left of which Katie was very happy about and not too happy to come back to mama. She was very confused and scared we could tell. When we got onto the elevator she cried so hard. Our hearts broke for her and I just prayed for God to hold her tightly and give her some peace that this really is ok. As soon as we got off the elevator she was fine, but cried all the way back to the hotel. We thought oh no, we had prepared ourselves for the worst and hoped for the best. She took a nap which was great. We thought she then would be hungry, but refused her bottle. I walked the halls of the hotel with her and then she started to change a bit. She drank a bottle and then we saw a couple of smiles. She loves her big sister, and Brooke loves being a big sister. I had a hard time getting her to sleep last night. Daddy and Brooke were sound asleep and never heard a word from her. Once I got her to sleep she slept ALL night, a full 10 hours!! I had left her in her clothes that she was brought to us in, only 1 layer, and this morning she had a bath and is wearing a cute winnie the pooh dress. She is only 14.52lbs. The size 3 diapers I brought are too big. We went to the store today and I bought size 2 which fit great. She is wearing a size 9 months perfectly now. Her feet are so tiny. She is very petite. She has no teeth yet but can crawl and tries to stand but we're not sure yet if she can.She loves her photo album and her favorite picture is Robby. She won't hold anything in her hand so far and is only drinking a bottle with rice cereal in it. We bought some baby food today to see if she will start eating something. We tried yogurt this morning and she would have nothing to do with it. She is so precious. She was going to both Jeff and I, but now is preferring me to him so he has her now while I'm writing this. The adoption is final as of today!! Tomorrow we go to the police station to do her passport paperwork and Thursday we are going to the zoo. The rest of our group joins us on Friday. I'm very excited to meet back up with the other famiies and meet their new children. Please continue to pray for us. We can tell that Katie is grieving which is good, that tells us she was attached to her nannies, and thus she will attach to us, but in the meantime it breaks our hearts seeing her sad and confused. I will try and attach pictures but am not sure if I can.

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!

I am posting for DSW (Dear Sweet Wife) while she tries to get some rest. It's wake up time at 4:00 am, and we leave for the airport at 5:30 am.

Our last post we had just arrived in Beijing. Saturday morning came very early. It was great to see Lineker and Sherry again. They are the same guides we had in 2001, with Brooke. After breakfast it was time to go to Forbidden City, Pearl Factory, and Summer Palace. Brooke is having a hard time with the food thankfully we have a good breakfast buffet and french fries at dinner. On the ride to the Hotel at night Brooke and I passed out.



Brooke got up at 2:30 AM Sunday morning and that made for a long day. First it was off to the International Church service. It was awesome and we really felt at home. Then it was off to the Jade Factory, Lunch, and the Great Wall. Brooke has made friends with some of the other girls and she is having a great time. She made it up to the 3rd watch tower on the wall. After dinner we went to the Chinese Acrobat Show. It was excellent even though everyone was so tired and several of our group fell asleep including Brooke.


LESS THAN 8 HOURS LEFT TO WE LEAVE TO GET KATIE. SOMETIMES IT DOES SEEM REAL, WE CAN WAIT.
BOYS WE MISS YOU VERY MUCH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH. WOW 20 SEEMS LIKE NOT THAT LONG AGO WE WERE BRINGING YOU HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL.

We are in Beijing

We made it to Beijing!! We were on the plane in Detroit for 1 1/2 hours after we were to take off. There was a problem with the fuel gauges. That didn't make us feel too good, especially as the pilot would come on the air and tell us things like, they are going to restart the plane, and it didn't work. They kept trying different things. Finally we took off, however we were nervous we wouldn't make our connection in Tokyo.

It is almost midnight here, we are all wide awake but know we must try and sleep as we have a very full day of touring tomorrow.

We love you boys and are missing you already, as in from the time we walked in the airport. Brooke is really missing you too.

14 hours till take off

So the time has finally come. The bags are packed, the electronics are charging up one last time. We leave for the airport in 10 hours. I hope I have remembered to pack everything. Tonight will be the last night we sleep here as a family of 7.

I'll try and post when we arrive, however it will be very late and we have an early morning. Please continue to lift our family in prayer.

Itinerary

We received our travel itinerary!! Monday we have our 2 hour travel conference call. 5 days till we leave!!

Thursday Nov. 6th Depart for Beijing, changing planes in Tokyo

Friday Nov 7th, arrive in Beijing 21 hours from the time our flight left

Saturday Nov 8th, Our sons 20th birthday!! Happy birthday Josh, we love you!!
Beijing sightseeing, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace

Sunday Nov 9th Beijing sightseeing, Church service & The Great Wall of China

Monday Nov 10th Morning flight to Guangzhou and, "GOTCHA DAY" Miss Katie!! We don't
know what time in the afternoon yet, but then we have our civil affairs
appt.

Tuesday Nov 11th-15th Paperwork, sightseeing and shopping

Sunday Nov 16th Medical exam

Monday Nov 17th Sightseeing and shopping

Tuesday Nov 18th Paperwork party, its really not a party at all. 1 parent from each family
will meet in the guides hotel room to fill out the paperwork for the
U.S. Consulate appt. Last time this took about 2 hours. I think it depends
on how many families are there and how many questions the parents have.

Wednesday Nov 19th Consulate appt

Thursday Nov 20th Pick up Katies visa!!

Friday Nov 21st, Depart from Guangzhou to Tokyo to Detroit!!

The reason we are there so long is it takes several days to process Katies passport and then to process her visa application. When we were in China to bring home Brooke, she was in a different province, so we traveled to 3 cities in China. Katie is in the Guangdong Province, which is where the U.S. Consulate is, thus the the reason for the 2 cities. Guangzhou will start to feel like home after we're there for 12 days.

Please continue to lift our family in prayer. We really appreciate it. I will post at least one more time before we leave.