The best adventure yet

I cannot believe it was two weeks ago we were leaving for Taipei! And that it was just one week ago that we arrived back in the US. Before too much time passes, I wanted to write an update from our trip to Taiwan. I am still processing that overwhelming and amazing week, but since being home I can be (and don't want to be) anywhere but exactly in the present, so I thought it best to update while I still remember! I plan to do a separate update about Calvin's transition home.

There are many things we were hoping to do and see in Taiwan that we did not, but I honestly do not regret it. We would have loved to sightsee more, to experience the culture, food and arts. But this trip was one hundred percent about our son and that meant everything else was optional. We did take a day to explore Taipei- going to the Taipei 101, going through a grocery store, and checking out the night market. Taipei was such an easy city to navigate with everyone being so incredibly helpful and most signs being in English as well as Mandarin. Taxis, the subway, city buses and covered walkways made getting around no problem.

I had heard about families getting a small gift for their child for each birthday, and I was determined to accomplish this! It took some time and creativity, but between the night market, super markets and even the airport souvenir shop we were able to collect 17 gifts- one for each year until Calvin turns 18. Another thing we did was write little notes on any ticket/map/receipt we had- where we were and what we were thinking about on the train to pick him up, the airplane home, etc. We are hoping that these little mementos will be treasured reminders of the best trip we've ever taken.

Zoom ahead to the day, the most important day of our lives so far. As we got ready in the morning, making sure everything in the hotel room was set up just perfect and our bags had absolutely everything a toddler could need, I simultaneously felt nervous and a sense of comforting peace. After a subway ride, a two hour high speed train ride, and a crazy taxi ride we arrived at St. Lucy Center.

The next few hours were an emotional roller coaster which are difficult to describe but I wouldn't change for anything. I will never forget the moment of looking out the window and seeing our boy walking toward the room we were in. We spent time at the center's playroom, giving our son time to warm up to us. There was a lot going on, and it was overwhelming for everyone. There were people in and out, questions being asked, tears, and lots of smiles and laughter. Once we had lunch at the nursery and got some pictures with the staff, it seemed time for us to go. Sitting inside the taxi outside of his home for the last two years, Calvin looked at his caregivers and waved goodbye and blew kisses. My heart broke into a million pieces for him. It was the hardest moment I've ever experienced. And then he leaned against my shoulder and fell asleep, and in the same moment I knew we were all meant to be together. It's why we named this blog what we did- we knew that once he was in our arms we were all home.

The rest of the day continued similarly; experiencing intense grief for our unknowing son while at the same time experiencing more joy than I thought possible. Any time I felt a wave of grief, Calvin would look at me and smile and say "hi!", or hold Nate's hand, or hug us. His comfort, trust, joy, love... I knew right then that throughout this excruciating wait to be together, God had been preparing him to be with his family. There was no way for us to not be joyfully in the moment when our strong, brave son was!

I am still in awe of how amazing those first few days together in Taiwan were. How Calvin immediately became attached to Nate and Nate to him. How quickly he could express his needs to us, how patient he was with all of the travel, how easily he slept and ate and played. How perfectly perfect we all fit together.

Now that we are home, we continue to see our sweet and spunky boy grow and thrive more and more each day. He continues to gain comfort and trust in his new surroundings, and take up more space in our hearts each day- if that's even possible. I will be sure to update this blog in the near future with more about our time since getting home, including Wesley as a big brother, playing outside, stinker stories and much more!

Thank you all so much for the huge ways you have shown our family support. It means the world to us.

First Day in Taiwan

So we are here! We arrived late last night, after a very long day of travel. All of our flights were fine, but smaller than I remember international seats being. We kept thinking, soon we will be doing this with Calvin in our laps!

My head is in so many different places, but I remember reading through adoption blogs and so often when they got to the much anticipated travel part of the adoption the posts would stop. I wanted to try to capture this moment to remember and look back on.

The last few weeks have been an incredible whirlwind. Our emotions have ranged from disbelief, to nervousness, to sheer anticipation, to panic- but always so so much joy. We had so much to get ready and it seemed overwhelming, but we were amazed at how everything came together. There were so many unexpected blessings that happened in those weeks to help us feel completely prepared for this next step in our lives.

The night before we were leaving was one of the longest nights ever! It was the most surreal feeling; actually being at the moment I had prayed for and thought about nearly every day for many years. I did not get much sleep, my stomach was doing somersaults and my mind spinning. But for as crazy and intense as I felt, I made sure to relish in the feeling because I wanted to enjoy every step of this journey.

Now we have the entire day ahead of us before we go get Calvin tomorrow morning. Today is Taiwan's National Double Day, which is their fourth of July. Even though it was early and rainy, we woke up to music playing outside the Taipei 101, which is directly across from our hotel. We plan to get some breakfast and do some exploring. We can't wait to see more of this beautiful country, but tomorrow is the day we really can't wait for!