QQ, Baby!

I'd heard buzz around the China adoption forums about a new way to connect with our kids after you get approval from China (LOA), but before you travel. It's called QQ, and it's China's version of Skype. It's such an amazing way to connect! It can help ease the kids' fears, get questions answered, and help them feel comfortable with their new family before they're thrown into each others arms. Some SWI's are not open to this, but I knew mine was. All contact with the SWI has to go through the adoption agency, so I asked ours to get in touch with Ewan's SWI to see about the possibility of setting up a QQ chat with him. They were very nice and friendly about it and said to choose a date and let them know, but that the best time for Ewan's schedule would be between 8:30-9:30 am China time. I thought a fun time to chat would be on my birthday, May 6th! That's 6:30 pm on May 6th for us, but 8:30 am in China on May 7th. We luckily found a willing interpreter and downloaded QQ to several devices.

As the time for the video chat approached, I got extremely nervous! My stomach was full of butterflies and I didn't know what to expect. I figured he would be shy at first, just as he seems to be in many situations to begin with. At 6:25 (a few minutes early), the SWI started calling our QQ account! Aaaahhh! So exciting. So nerve wracking. Our interpreter wasn't even there yet! We answered the call, and they could see and hear us, but we could only see them. They worked for several minutes trying to get the sound to work, but we finally said it was okay and it didn't matter. They would then message us in writing, our translator would translate, and we could speak the answers, which would then also be translated. It wasn't the smoothest system for communicating, but it worked just fine for our purposes. Pretty soon Ewan popped on the screen and we all went nuts! He was all smiles! Waving, blowing kisses, pointing; I couldn't have imagined a better "first meeting" if I'd tried! He is absolutely adorable and such a little love!  None of us could wipe the smiles off our faces! The reaction of the nannies was so funny. They kept saying, "Wow! Such a big family!" Four kids and adopting a fifth is unfathomable to most people from China. It's just not an option for them, so I completely understand their amazement! Heck, I'm even amazed myself at how many of us there are now!

Baba and Ewan chat!

Getting his ear phone in so he could hear us.

...and taking it out again. He wasn't much of a fan of the ear piece. Ha!

We went around the family and introduced ourselves. Though we couldn't hear what he was saying, I definitely could read his lips as he repeated, "Mama!" He blew me kisses, waved, and smiled the most endearing smile a mama could ever imagine. My heart burst. It's official: I love this boy. I absolutely cannot wait until he is in my arms being smothered in kisses! 

This is my favorite picture. Although he was smiling TONS during the call, I only took a few pictures. This is the best smile I captured in a still shot. Such a beautiful, happy boy!

Although the "Mama" part of our conversation was nothing short of magical, my favorite moments involved Milo, or Didi (which means little brother). Ewan was quite taken with Didi! He kept asking for him to come back on the screen and he said, "I want to hear Didi talk!" We all giggled and explained that Didi doesn't talk yet. We got Didi back in front of the screen, and Ewan ran to get a Pleasant Goat book. He held it up to the computer and said he wanted to read it to Didi. I can't even do justice to how darling and tender this moment was. Milo, who is generally the most easy going child, didn't have a good nap that day and was getting a cold. He was as grumpy as I've ever seen him and wanted nothing to do with sitting in front of a computer. Oh well, Ewan didn't seem to notice. Thinking about the sweet relationship these two soon-to-be-brothers will have makes me giddy!

Giving us a little wave <3

I LOVED watching and listening to all our kids talk to Ewan. About every 2.7 seconds someone would say, "Ni Hao!" They all waved and waved, blew kisses, and couldn't stop smiling. It was surreal and completely overwhelming in the best of ways that this boy we've been working to bring home was suddenly interacting with us!

Meimei waves back. Way too cute.

The staff at the SWI seemed super nice and friendly and I know Ewan has been well loved there. He had just finished eating his breakfast, and not long into the call he was eating a snack. Ha! After about 45 minutes, Ewan ran off. The nannies tried to bring him back, but explained that his school is starting and he was anxious to go be with his friends. We assured them that we understood and that's what we wanted Ewan to go do. 45 minutes was plenty! They also said we could arrange another chat and call back soon! Yes!! This time I'm going to organize a list of questions. My dad taped the whole conversation on the video camera, and I know we'll treasure always our first time "meeting" each other! I can safely say that this is the best birthday present I've ever received!! I will try to post some clips of the video soon. He's just too cute not to share!

In other news, We have received I-800 approval and now have our GUZ#. The next step is to fill out the Immigrant Visa application on Ewan's behalf so we can have Article 5 drop off. We are getting so, so close! There is a problem, though! The DS-260 (the Immigrant Visa application) is not working! Friends have been waiting over a week and still can't access it. Would you mind praying that a speedy solution is found so our adoptions can move forward? It's so frustrating to be stuck on a step so very close to the end! Thank you!