Meeting Everett Louie Shuai

Warning…500 photos to follow 🙂

I woke at 1:30am with nerves.  My phone had sweet messages from family.  My eyes read over them and fell back asleep.  I woke again around 4 and again around 5:30.  I scrolled through my phone.  Josh was already up and gone.  My stomach swirled.  So so nervous.  The kids were all still sleeping…I wondered if our boy was still sleeping too or if he was already awake like his dad and I.  I started to get ready and noticed his little toothbrush.  Hudson woke up first.  He walked in all squinty eyed, grabbed a book and hopped up on our bed to read.  I read in Exodus 10…the ninth plague…darkness…you know, just some light hearted reading 🙂 Hudson and I talked about what his little brother might be doing that morning.

Josh came back from the hotel gym and Harper and Solomon woke up.  We all headed down to get some breakfast together.  Watermelon, waffles, bacon and eggs.  Everyone ate the beautiful dragon fruit and agreed we liked it better than we do kiwi…and we love kiwi.  I stepped outside to get a shot of Zhengzhou waking up.  We went back up to straighten the room and get everything situated.  The kids put on a gynmastics show complete with sword swallowing and a human suspension bridge.  I love them.  Harper kept signing Christmas carols.  My nerves kept churning.  Harper and I sang a small Justin Beiber duo.  She facetimed her friend Zoe and we all facetimed with Amon and our littlest as they were getting ready for bed.

We double checked his bag…cookies, snacks, cars, playdoh, stickers and a sippy cup of water.  Then it was time to go.  9:30.  We walked down to the lobby to meet Wendy and exchange some money.  There were other families gathering in the lobby obviously going to meet their children too.  Everyone was carrying colorful gift bags mostly in reds and golds to give as thank yous to different officials and nannies.

We loaded in the van.  The weather was sunny and warm.  The adoption center was very close by and we were the first ones there.  The building was colorful, welcoming and friendly.  We were greeted with smiles from everyone.  We sat at a table nervously waiting and started going over paperwork and double checking spellings and information.  They said he was in the building.  I started to cry.  Wendy gave me a tissue and said comforting words.  She is the nicest.  We went over paperwork again.  Other families started to arrive and join us in the big colorful room.  Then they said he was coming and I started to cry again heart racing.

And then there he was.  He was walking in on his own through the first set of automatic doors with a nanny holding a baby.  He got through the first set of doors and then hesitated.  He wouldn’t come any further.  There was no crying, but head shakes back-and-forth no.  Wendy and several staff members went to him to try and coax him in.  He stood his ground.  Then we went out to him.  I couldn’t believe it.  There we were face-to-face with our son.  I had dreamed of this moment at least a 1,001 times.  We gave him space and one of his workers at his home picked him up.  Everyone was talking to him.  We gave him some cookies and Josh and I both tried to hold him and he shook his head no.  We tried again and he came to me.  He squirmed a bit and then settled down.  He was wearing 2 giant layers of clothing and holding a piece of chocolate wrapped in a shiny silver and purple wrapper.  Harper, Hudson and Solomon were smitten.

He sat with me for a while.  I noticed he would tap his foot.  I had to do something and Josh tried to take him and he went with ease.  There they sat together.  His little face still had not budged…he was taking it all in.

We spent the rest of the time filling out paperwork and soaking his somber little self up.  I wrote out his name Everett Louie Shuai…he was ours.  We played with cars and ate vanilla wafers.  He played with stickers and little animals.  His worker brought each item we mailed him in his care package.  His little book was well worn…they had been working hard to prepare him for us and it showed.  I cried again.  We all looked at his little book together.  He said the Chinese name for each person and then looked at that person and smiled.  We all sat amazed…just in awe of this little gem we get to call our son and brother.  Every time he said the name and then looked at the correct person we all lost it.

We filled out more paperwork.  Other families were meeting their children all around us.  Some kids were so quiet while others we’re crying so hard and loud.  It was such a beautiful and bittersweet moment.  I tried soaking in every piece of it…what a gift we have been given.  Solomon got him to laugh for the first time while he road on a little push car.  It was the sweetest little laugh.  At one point we had to put our fingerprints on some paperwork in red ink and I got very emotional…the significance of putting my actual fingerprint onto paperwork promising I would love our son forever was not lost on me.  What an honor we have been given.

We needed his hand print next and he wasn’t having it.  Wendy talked and talked and talked to him.  Harper showed him how to do it on her own hand.  We offered cookies and snacks of all kinds.  We tried everything, but finally broke out some candy crush on Josh’s phone.  He clicked away and eventually let us stamp his little hand.

Once paperwork was all finished we walked out of the building with another sweet little boy to call our own.  He was so quiet.  He rode in Josh’s lap to our hotel.  Not many noises at all, but Hudson told him he loved him in Chinese and Everett said it back.  We all died.

At the hotel he checked out everything and was just super quiet.  He loved playing with a sword and Hudson and Solomon had him laughing at catapulting blocks into the air.  The big kids went to swim and we facetimed with Uncle Andy and Aunt Becky and he fell asleep.  We spent the afternoon looking at each other and taking his stats to send to his doctors.

Later in the afternoon we went to visit his home.  I kind of hate the word orphanage and it was his home.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I cried too many times to count.  He is such a loved little boy and was incredibly well taken care of by the staff and nannies and doctors and nurses.  Everyone told him bye and just made over him.  He did great.  I can’t say enough good things about Show Hope and the homes they run in Zhengzhou.  The doctor we spoke with was so kind and actually worked at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville for a few years.  Such a small world.

After our visit we headed back to the hotel.  We got take out from a little local place, took a bath, put on fresh pajamas and then chilled out in front of Storks.  He had such a big hard day and he handled it incredibly well.

It was a day filled with emotions, but Shuai rocked it!  I however was a mess.  So many tears for his little mind and heart.  I prayed all throughout the day asking God to be everything he needs and to comfort him like no other.  This was the first day to our forever and I seriously feel like the luckiest mama on Earth.

26 Comments

  1. Wow!!! What an incredible God-filled day for you, your family and your new son!!! I needed a lovely story this morning and this just warmed my heart and soul! Congratulations to everyone on your newest blessing! Prayers as you travel and bring him home!!! YAY!!! XOXO

  2. Tears stream down my face as I read this and see the pictures. How awesome God is to answer so many prayers at such an incredible moment. I feel so privileged to have had an opportunity to pray and walk with you all on this journey. THANK YOU for sharing it all with us. I will continue to pray and rejoice!

  3. Thank you for posting praying over everyone and everything!!! ❤

  4. I mean- I can’t even! I’m so so happy for your precious family!!! Welcome home little love!

  5. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us all. With tears streaming down my face, I took it all in. You are blessed. He is blessed.

  6. Jo Moseley says:

    Wow! God gave you the perfect boy as a Son! He just looks like he fits in and has always been with your family. Still, I know that it will take time for his little soul to settle into being a part of family life. That his soul will yearn the familiar he has left behind. But, it looks like he’s going to adjust well. So happy that his older siblings are there to help him adjust, to make him laugh and to say, “I Love You”.
    Everett is beautiful. Praying for the remainder of your trip is full of fun memories and NO health issues. Congratulations on your New Son! Love You – Jo

  7. So beautiful. “Hudson told him he loved him in Chinese and Everett said it back” ❤ what a precious precious boy.

  8. He LOOKS like a Henan boy! Congrats, he is precious!

  9. Oh, Laura! So thankful that God chose you & Josh to be his parents. What a blessed little one!! Love you all!
    Cousin Marsha

  10. So happy for all of you!! This brings back so many memories from our three trips to China to adopt our boys. Thanks for sharing, and I love seeing all the pictures! 🙂

  11. Congratulations to all of you. Such a beautiful day for you to remember forever. And such a lucky and loved little boy. Sending prayers for a safe journey home and an easy transition for everyone.

  12. The tears are falling here as I read and see the beautiful photos of all of you and your new son. So happy to see him smiling and laughing. I’m guessing your bigs are helping him to adjust. I’m sure it’s nice for other children to be around. He really is beautiful! I pray each day he is more and more content and feels safe and loved. God’s love is so BIG! (How old is Everett?)

  13. Oh Laura! I am so happy for your family. That little boy is so loved and so blessed to be with you all. I have been and will continue praying for you as you make the journey home.

  14. He’s just gorgeous! Congratulations! 🙂

  15. Oh the tears!!! Such a beautiful story. I’m so very happy for your sweet family, God has blessed you all and sweet Shuai by bringing you all together. Prayers for a beautiful forever.

  16. Perfection. Thanks for sharing so much of this journey!!!!!

  17. So happy for you all! I’m fighting back tears and it is not working. I love the picture where you are filling out more paperwork and, in the background, Harper is lounging with him and looks to be gently rubbing his cheek with her finger. What a blessing little Shuai is. I pray that God holds you all in His hands as you transition back home. God is so great!

  18. Beautiful! He’s a lucky little boy to be in your beautiful family!

  19. Congratulations! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this beauty with us!
    I will say, you threw off my afternoon… I went to the bathroom and checked your site real quick (y’know, like you do) and was SO happy to see this. But then I couldn’t finish reading it – I had more work to do before I could sit down for my afternoon break. And *all* I could think about was getting back to this story about your precious little guy. So I got a tiny little piece (0.001 % I think someone else said) of what your week has been like. 🙂
    Thank you for letting us be a piece of it at all. I’d give you a hug if you weren’t several thousand miles away (even though I’ve never met you 😛 .) Praying for safe travels.

  20. Thank you for sharing this experience with us Laura, so special, and he is soooo cute. He looks like he fits right in with your family. Praying for you all.

  21. My heart is so full for you. WOW and AMEN!

  22. Jamie J says:

    What a special boy! So many sweet moments and so many more to come!!

  23. I finally got a chance to check your blog after following your journey on IG. I love how you shared every little thing. The tears was perking the whole time and then overflowed when you shared about how Hudson and Everett said “I love you” to each other in the car. Oh my! Your family is so amazing. You are such an inspiration to us all. Congrats!

  24. I was bawling through this! So so so happy for you guys – what an incredible day! And I’m so glad all 3 of your big kids were there to share it with you two. Congratulations and can’t wait to see how Everett fits into your beautiful family!

  25. Glenda Hoagland says:

    Thank you for sharing this poignant story

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