I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Our perfect day started with our family and friends joining us at our home to spend some time together talking, eating and laughing. Time FLEW! And, all of a sudden Dan said to me, "Wendy, we have 15 minutes to be ready for the baptism and out the door!" I'll tell you, Johnny Wei sure does look happy AND ready. Look at this smile!

But, we made it - barely! (Father Brown was very relaxed and even held up the mass a minute or two as we waited for Dan to park the car.) Johnny, Johnny's Godparents (Tom and Sandy Apidone), Dan and I joined Father and the others in the procession toward the front of the church which began the mass. It was a truly warm and loving baptism, complete with Madison, Abby and Adam being present at the baptismal font.

We are so pleased to announce that

our sweet Johnny Wei

is an OFFICIAL member

of the Catholic Church!

Jesus loves you, Johnny!!!

(And, so do we!)

Johnny Wei takes his first baby steps!!!

"Watch me go!"

Oh my gosh, we are SO excited to announce that our little boy has tried his first steps this week!!! To think - he was only rolling over when we brought him home - how far he has come.

Madison, Abby and Adam are joyous, too. Each 'try' from Johnny elicits a big, "MOM! DAD! HE JUST TOOK A FEW STEPS!!!" What a little sweetheart. You should see the grin on his face!

Now it's really time to baby proof!

Once every two weeks, we have a playdate here for Johnny Wei. His name is Malec. Look what they were up to yesterday:

Baby Malec had his 1st birthday last month. He's walking confidently by now and is trying to teach Johnny everything he knows. It really is comical to see the strides Johnny makes the day after their playdate.

Is this little face fun to kiss or what?

Ohmygosh!

How can we resist?

Look at me growing!!!

Johnny was at his 18-month well-child checkup a couple weeks ago and is doing beautifully! His doctor, Dr. Schulte, was just giddy with his progress. Johnny is not yet walking independently, but is upright everywhere he can get a little assistance. It's beautiful to watch him grow. Hmm. About the growth, however. We thought he had reached the 20 pound mark, but he still has not made it according to the scale at the Cleveland Clinic. Even so, Dr. Schulte switched him from his soy formula (which she wanted him on until he hit the big 2-0#) to regular milk. Whew! Now we can afford to feed him! HA! Just kidding! He loves milk and seems to have an even better appetite for food since the switch.

A few weeks back, Johnny received a very special and thoughtful gift. Our friends, who have also adopted, presented him with a gift - a little Chinese boy! "Thank you, Jerry, Marcy, Andy, Audrey, Lucy, Charlie and JJ!" Here is a picture of Marcy holding Johnny with his look-alike. I cannot help but to smile when I look at how happy they both are!

Johnny has adjusted so naturally to all the noise and activity in our home. One thing he didn't miss a beat on was telling the dogs who's boss. Harley doesn't mind. Here is a picture of Johnny and Harley - not a hard one to capture. When it's eating time, you can ALWAYS depend on the dogs to lend a helping 'paw' to clean up what falls from the highchair! One of Johnny's first words was "No da!" for "No, doggie!" Funny part is, he does use it appropriately, but also uses it when I tell him not to touch something.

Mom: "Don't touch the keyboard."

Johnny: "No da!" (with a flash of a sweet

smile and quick another attempt...)

Enjoy the cooler fall weather!

Johnny hits the pool!

There is a terrific pool at Vero Beach resort. They had a flotation for babies - appropriately named, "The Baby Float"!

Here's Johnny Wei!

Thank goodness for sunscreen and water. We're having a great time! Tomorrow we're off to the Animal Kingdom Lodge in Orlando. It's about a 2-hour drive.

Hello, Everyone!

We've been away - so to speak - for some time now. It's been all good, though. The kids are out of school and we're workin' on vacation #3 since Johnny's arrival home. The first trip was a quick "trial" to COSI in Columbus, Ohio. The 2nd trip was to Jellystone Campground in Fremont, Indiana. We spent time there with Mom and Dad, Barb's family and Tim's family.

And, we are currently on vacation #3. We spent a day in Tennessee with Uncle Jim and Aunt Dorothy and all 4 of my cousins/families. What a joy! We swam at Cousin Sandra's and Chris' pool and got to know our family a little better. We've only been out to see them 3 times, and each time we have the opportunity to see - for the first time - more cousins' children. (Please excuse the incorrect apostrophes... :-) ) Time was too short there! Tennessee is my kind of state! (Go, RED!)

So, the second leg of our vacation is here in Vero Beach, Florida. It's GORGEOUS! We're in the Disney Resort located on the beach. Between the pool, play areas and beachfront, the kids are having a well-exercised ball! Last night we decided to wake up early this am to watch God give us the gift of the morning sun. Sunrise was at 6:40. There were a few others that were along the shore with us (one woman who managed to dive into the ocean in the middle of 'our scene' at sunrise - how dare she!)

The last part of our trip will be spent at the new Animal Kingdom Lodge in Orlando, Florida. Pray for continued health. Life is so good when everyone feels great!

Johnny Wei has come so far. Here is a little footage of our little guy that Dan took back at the ranch. He's 'commando crawling', getting a toy (even though it's a dog's toy) and saying "Hi" and "Bye". God love him! Can you tell we're proud? How can you blame us? Tee heeee heeee!!! Enjoy!

Official citizen of the Unites States of America

Hi everyone! I did it! I'm an official citizen of the United States of America!!! I knew if I was a good boy that it would happen. And, boy-o-boy, have I been a GOOD BOY! I have my forever family and I love my life - even with Champ and Harley, those crazy Golden Retrievers. (I never saw anything quite like them in China!)

Celebrate with me and wave the stars and stripes. (Mom, can I still have a Chinese flag in my room? Absolutely, Johnny!)

Things are going so well. We took our first getaway as a family of 6 to Columbus. Johnny was totally at ease with all the people at the COSI museum.

He's been conditioned very well! Madison, Abby and Adam did a load of swimming and the trip was a nice time for all of us.

Just a few pictures!

We've been doing so well! Other than an intestinal bug, Johnny's labs are really good. He's adjusting incredibly well. It seems that he loves it here. I'm sorry I've been so negligent on photos! Hopefully, these will be worth the wait

The kids made a wall of homecoming pictures for our arrival, which hung between the kitchen and family room. Here we are!!!

The girls have been enjoying being the big sister to their littlest brother. Check it out!

By the way - Don't underestimate Abby's mothering instinct by the fact Johnny is sporting only one sock. Keeping his feeties covered is a full-time job these days. He is really enjoying pulling those socks off. We've tried the shoes on game and there are times he'll even get the shoe AND sock off - just to show US who's boss! HA! You cannot see the writing on his shirt in the photo with Abby, but it says, "Made In China".

What a cute little face!

I think "Grand-ma-ma" is super enjoying her new little grandson!Harley is dearling loving being an example of how much fun a dog can be. He's really come a long way. At first he'd paw and compete. Now, he's actually laying down beside Johnny and being a good, calm boy. "That's my Golden!" Notice Champ in the background. He's just a gem. He's taught Harley everything he knows on how to be worth his weight in GOLD. Here is a pic of Adam, too. He's getting used to no longer being the 'youngest boy'. He'll soon be sure once again that Momma and Daddy love him just as much as EVER!

Johnny has realized that when I hold the camera to my eyes that there is going to be a big flash. Accordingly, he's been closing his eyes before the flash even goes off! What a riot! Get a load of those Converse tennies. They are a hand-me-down from his big brother, Adam!

And, one more for the road. This ought to help with those camera flashes! We were told it's hard to fit Asians with glasses due to the bridge of their nose being so flat between their eyes. Well, there you have it. It works!

John's trip to the Cleveland Clinic

Last Wednesday, March 18th, we had John evaluated by the Adoptive program at the Cleveland Clinic. It was a rather long day that included his history, physical, surgical site evaluation and bloodwork. Everything looks great.

When we first got our littlest guy, he barely wanted to roll over. What a difference a few weeks make! Now, he's able to balance in a sitting position with very little intervention! Yeahhhh!!!

Madison, Abby and Adam are really enjoying their new brother. I am incredibly proud of them for taking him in as a part of their family so unselfishly. Johnny presented them with a gift thanking them for their part in making his adoption possible - a Nintendo DS! ("You're welcome, Johnny!!!") Adam may need to join NDSA (Nintendo DS Anonymous).

Johnny and I are home! Actually, we arrived home ~8pm Friday, March 13th (and, I'm only now blogging to tell about it). It was an extremely long 24 hours from Guangzhou, China, to Cleveland, Ohio. BUT, that being said, nobody was sick and we got to FLY - as opposed to the slow boat the poor people had to use in the 'olden' days. I'm grateful.

Mr. Johnny only got about 1 or 2 hours of sleep during the 24 hour stint. You can imagine how out of sorts the poor little guy was. He held it together until the Chicago to Cleveland stint. There were a few delays and when we finally boarded, it was boarding onto a little tuna can with a non-operational bathroom. The pilot said for us to make sure we used the restrooms in the terminal before boarding. Hmmm... Now how do we figure in dirty diapers? HA!

And, boy-o-boy, were there a boatload of dirty diapers!!!

Since being home, we've found Mr. Johnny has joined the "Soy-boy" ranks of formula-fed children. (He and his cousin must get that from their mothers' side of the family!) Prior to the magic of Enfamil ProSobee, our little guy delivered 7-10 soiled diapers PER DAY! If I could do a commercial, Johnny would be the spokesbaby. HA!

"Being on soy has changed my life..."

Mr. Johnny went to the Cleveland Clinic Adoptive Center for a thorough evaluation today. Things went very, very well. We saw a pediatric specialist who evaluated his growth and development and a surgeon who is very familiar with John's birth defect (known as a gastroschesis or 'abdominal cleft') and surgery. Additionally, he and received 5 vaccination injections and had a slew of bloodwork drawn. Our sweet little guy learned he cannot trust everybody in a white coat. The docs and phlebotomists were as sweet as can be, but in the end, needles hurt. I kept reminding myself that the diseases hurt more. (That is Surviving of Motherhood 102.)

The doc said other than some abdominal weakness - which can be expected from laying around in a bed and perhaps from his surgery as an infant - Johnny is doing very well. He has two lower teeth, which we noticed are different sizes even though they should be exact symmetrical teeth. She said they are probably a 'fused tooth' and isn't much to be worried about. She described several exercises for increasing his strength and is excited to see him in a month after being home with us.

The surgeon said, in a nutshell, it's too bad for his family to have abandoned him and it's lucky for us to have adopted such a healthy, happy little boy! Although Johnny is 10% more likely to have an intestinal atresia (blockage or stricture), he is tested and proven. He says that the 1st month is the make-or-break when it comes to a gastroschisis repair. And, the fact that he survived in an orphanage speaks volumes. And, by the way, the surgeon said there is absolutely nothing we can do to change his odds of atresia. He said it could happen when he's 20 or 80 years old, tomorrow or not at all. It's just an artifact of the scar tissue and adhesions that happen with surgeries such as his.

He said, "Don't worry. ENJOY him!"

And, that we will. We're thrilled to have adopted such a special little boy...our special little child who was "Made In China".

Hi All!

Our China leg of this journey has almost come to an end. I miss being with my whole family desperately! And, I'm looking so forward to establishing our 'new normal'!

Today we went to the American embassy to 'swear-in' that our adoption contained all true information, etc. etc.. It was really neat. Johnny is now officially ours. There were about 60 families, many of which had adopted 2, 3 and 4 children from China! After the oath we were issued the kids' visas. (We needed visas to enter China, and Johnny will need this visa to enter the USA.) He will receive his documentation of citizenship in about a month.

The families are running last minute errands and picking up souvenirs. Mr. Johnny is snoozing, so I'm just blogging. HA! Keep our safety for travel home in your prayers. It's an extremely long 24 hours for us...if all goes as planned. We are flying Guangzhou, China, to Tokyo, Japan, to Chicago, IL, to Cleveland, OH.

Just writing Cleveland, I sigh. :-)

I MISS HOME SWEET HOME!

Love you all! And, as Mickey Mouse would say,

"See you real soon!"

The Guang dong Museum of Folk Handicrafts

Temperature: High 63 Low61 - Cloudy (Dan, I see via weather.com it isn't easy bringing the dogs back to the warm, rainy, MUDDY 3007 Rainbow Lane! Good luck with Champ and Harley-Man!)

By the way, if you are wondering about the time change, Guangzhou, China, is 13 hours ahead of Cleveland, Ohio. So, I am typing away here at 2pm and you are, hopefully, snuggly in bed at 1am. (Which reminds me...Madison and Abby - are you finished with all your homework? Tee heeee!)

It's another nice day in China. We spent the morning on a tour of the Guang dong Museum of Folk Handicrafts. I have to admit, I was thinking I would rather hang out in the hotel, as Johnny slept in this morning. But, I stayed true to my reason to be here - to learn and experience as much of John's homeland as possible! How could I refuse another walk with our new son and brother? "Let's go!!!"

There was a great gift shop here, and I did some mild monetary damage. Hey, to have souvenirs, I gotta spend some money. Within the shop, we had a little tea party. They served oolong and jasmine teas. I especially enjoyed the jasmine tea, so I bought a few 'pods' of it. It's rather cool (should have taken a picture...) because they plunk a pod into a pot of boiling water and it more or less 'blooms' within the pot. A flower comes out and everything! Here is a shot of Mr. Zhou - our fearless leader from the adoption center - distributing the tea.

Along with selling great stuff, the museum itself had amazingly beautiful, carved features along the rooflines and walls themselves. Hopefully, you are able to click on these pictures and zoom-in. A photo really doesn't do this justice!

There were gardens and galleries. Fortunately, we only had an hour and my ability to cause too much 'monetary' damage was limited!

On our way back we grabbed some food at McDonald's. (Adam, buddy, I got a Spider Man action figure for you. It's not the same one as yours that lost it's head, but I'm sure you'll like it!) Little did I know I ordered a children's happy meal. I just thought I was getting a cheeseburger, but I guess I pointed to the Chinese word for happy meal!!! Oops!

I had to post this adorable little picture of one of the 2-1/2 year old adopted little girls trying to eat some type of noodle dish with some chopsticks. This is Quinn. From what I understand when the family brought her to her first breakfast, she grabbed two spoons and tried to use the 'non-spoon ends' as chopsticks! How darling is that???

All these kids are darling! Come to think of it, Dan, are you at all interested in doing this again? I think Madison, Abby, Adam and Johnny need another sibling! (As Adam would say, "HA! Juuuuust trickin!")

At that I'll close. Madison, this one is for you. Just think "Mufasa" from "The Lion King".

And, Abbykins, this one is for you! I love you guys more than life itself.

Johnny's first birthday is today!

Happy 1st Birthday, John Wei Stumbaugh!!!

It's March 8th, 2009. What a special day in little Johnny's life! Although Daddy had to kiss him good-bye and board a plane, we were, indeed together to celebrate this sweet day in our 1-year old's life. (Madison, Abby and Adam - how would you like to celebrate?)

So, what did we have planned for his big day? Mr. Zhou (pictured above) has planned a trip to the Guangzhou Zoo!

The weather was gloomy, but in no way did it dampen our spirits! The animals much preferred the 50+ degree misty weather to the summer zoo trips we've taken in the past. We have to shoot for the cloudy, cooler days from here on out!

The "funniest" animal of the day award was a slam dunk. It was a CAMEL that one of the young daughters said "had a broken hump". Poor guy! Granted, HE didn't think it was so funny, but our group did!

The "most affectionate" animal(s) of the day award was also quite obvious. (Adam, this one is for YOU, buddy!) It was the HIPPOS! For any of you wondering if there is such a thing as hippo amor, "Love was in the air"!!! Check the kissin' couple. I think I may have heard them say, "Could we have a little privacy, please?" But, it was in Chinese, so I'm not 100% sure.

There were so many photo-ops at the zoo. And, it's a good thing one of our adoptive parents brought along two digital cameras, as our camera had obviously seen better days. After taking 3-4 pictures at the front gate, the camera displayed "card reader error". Now, I could complain about the timing, but I won't. I would have been devastated had we gotten that error the day we took the trip to Johnny's orphanage - so, praise God! Thanks to the generosity of "Linda and Steve" parents of Abby and Ana, we placed my memory card into their "extra" camera and didn't miss a beat. They will download all the pics, and I can take the the memory card home with me to keep.

So, a few notes of praise to my vast mothering experience. Yep. Big pats on the back. I mean, Johnny has to be the luckiest guy here with me at his side! Yesterday, while doing some paperwork for the embassy appointment on the 11th, Dan struggled with his newest son. He tried everything to get him to sleep - which Mr. Johnny desperately needed. But, I have to point out that Daddy's efforts were to NO avail.

"Have you given him a bottle?"

"Yes, he doesn't want it!"

"How did you make it?"

...details given...cold?...warm?...jostled?, wrapped?, unwrapped?...etc...etc...

"Maybe he just needs to cry it out."

15 minutes later he's still wailing. I mean, Johnny is WAILING!!!

Then, an angel knocked at the door. Tracie is an adoptive mom who offered to give us her Enfamil and rice cereal earlier in the day. She thought her new daughter may have some allergies and no longer needed her stash from the states.

What the heck, I thought to myself. He's OBVIOUSLY not HUNGRY (we'd tried his bottle several times), but maybe he'll TRY some of this. What IS this? Hamburger flavored rice cereal???

JACKPOT! "Mommy, I was trying to tell you I'm STARVING for some FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It is a good thing it appears that Johnny is a very forgiving baby. That kid DEVOURED the cereal and I had to make two more portions before he started slowing down!

So much for my vast experience. (I think I hear you laughing at me.) OK, it IS kinda funny. But, cut me some slack - did any of YOU know that Chinese babies need to eat, too?

Madison, Abby and Adam - I MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH. Aunt Barb tells us you are being so helpful and well behaved. I keep saying it, but I hope you know how much we love you and how proud we are of you. You've worked so hard to make this happen. Abby, I hope your eyedrops are going well and your pink-eye is clearing up. Thanks, Pup, for getting her to the doctor.

I MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH. :-)

A gift from Valparaiso, Indiana

We decided to give Johnny this gift from his Aunt Barb, Uncle John and cousins Julia and Kevin.




It's a necklace of Saint WilliamHow cool! What a perfect gift! Thank you so much. He (and we) will always treasure this!

Part Two

After lunch, we got to the best stuff of all... We made a visit to Xuzhou Children's Hospital. This is the hospital where our sweet little boy was dropped off as a 1-day old infant, discovered by a very special angel, and flown into the arms of a doctor and his staff who were dedicated to some of the most needy little people in the world.

We were so humbled. Ms. Tong coordinated our arrival with meeting all the players in Johnny's Hospital story. First, we met the gal who first discovered "Wei Jiahong". She is a section chief of the unit and is pictured here pointing and talking about finding the little guy. We decided to go over there and reassure him he'd never be left again. Our prayers go out to his biological mother. I cannot even begin to imagine how sad, scared and desperate she must have felt when left with this as her son's most favorable option.

Alas! Who has come out to greet us? The doctor who performed Johnny's abdominal surgery!!! We asked Denise our coordinator to thank him for his hand in Johnny's life. He responded that it's all about the kids and he works with an incredible staff of nurses and other physicians that make these things possible.

The staff then took us to the ICU where Johnny spent the first month of his little life. Here, we are pictured with the nurse who cared for him. And, she is standing at his particular ICU bed.




Here's a cute little chuckle. Since I'm the one writing this blog, I'm gonna put this one up. Check out Dan prepping for the tour! Looks pretty good, eh?

Journey into Johnny's beginnings! Part One

Today was INCREDIBLE.

We went into the day with Denise, our "in-province coordinator" having booked us a train ride to - and back from - Xuzhou Province, the province where Johnny was born. It's departure and arrival times were 9:30 am and 6:40pm, respectively. With taxis and extra time for rush-hour, we knew it was going to be a very long day - especially for little Mr. John.

It was a 2-hour train ride. And, it was a very comfortable one at that! We find that Johnny does better in the bumpy, darting, beeping taxis than he does in a smooth, quiet train. Don't get me wrong, he did great - but, it seems that the taxis lull him to sleep, whereas the smooth train kept him awake and in need of constant entertainment!!! (So, am I wishing for a turbulent flight home? NOT!)

We met Ms. Tang, the coordinator of Xuzhou Social Welfare Institute, when we arrived in Xuzhou. She was the gal in the earlier pictures who brought our little guy to us at the Adoption Center on Monday. She is a wonderful lady who is a mixture of resourceful, accomodating, gracious and tons of compassion.

Our first stop: WOW! Look what we pulled up to.."Welcome Wei Jiahong's Family to Xuzhou Social Welfare Institute" What a welcome. Guys, these people must have gone all out to have made a sign like this for us! Money is extremely hard to come by for them!

They opened up the doors for us, too. We saw Johnny's playroom - complete with his little friends 6-12 months old. Oh, an aside - even the local newspaper paparazzi showed up. I'm really not kidding! One had this huge camera and kept snapping away. I didn't know what to think!!! (You can see him in the lower right side of the picture. Check out the camera!)


This is a picture of Johnny's nanny at the orphanage. We didn't get a chance to meet her at the adoption center earlier. We thought the gal with Ms. Tang was the nanny, but we were mistaken. "Thank you for all your love!!!!" These awesome people - to us - have no name. But, we will thank God for your part in our son's life always.

When we got to their bedroom, the staff plunked baby Johnny down into his crib. We actually TOUCHED the little guy's crib...tee heee. I'm giddy! Anyway, they also put him in his next door neighbor's crib with her in it and another one of the children. It was an all-out party! HA!

Johnny said his last "Good-byes" and we all gathered in front of the building for a group photo.

Onto lunch!!!

They then loaded us up into the van and took us to an incredibly nice place for lunch. As we walked into the building, we saw the cook and his station. NoVikings. No Bosch. "Just" a hard working Chinese cook who is determined to do a great job. I guess American's pricey high-end appliances are way overrated. You wouldn't have believed the spread and the tasty food they prepared for us.

Here is a shot of the table before we all started eating. And, yes. We tried it ALL...duck feet, wild frog legs and squid soup!!!