Today was Tate’s birthday!!!!

Our sweet little boy is now four years old!

We are pretty sure he did not understand that fact at all, but we sure did!

The guys went to Shamian Island with the travel group today.

Shamian Island is where adoptive families used to stay a few years ago, at a hotel called the White Swan. This hotel was still under construction last year when we were there, but was open this year, and the guys went inside to take a look!

Shamian is a good place for a stroll. It is just 900 meters long from east to west and 300 meters from south to north! Due to traffic control on the island, problems such as traffic jams and car pollution don’t exist there. There is a line of bars and cafes on the southwest side with views over the Pearl River. This was certainly my favorite place we visited last year in Guangzhou!

This is Simon, the guys guide. He has been a guide for adoptive families for 20 years now!

Blake and Grant had two things they were hoping to get today – some chopsticks for Tate to bring home (we bought some for each of us last year!), and a scroll with Tate’s Chinese name, American name, and date of birth on it. They were successful!

While they were in Penny’s Place, Tate said something in Chinese and Penny translated for Blake. He said “Baba! Come see the cat!!” Blake told Penny to tell Tate that he has three cats at his new home! Tate squealed, clapped his hands, and jumped up and down!

It is kind of a tradition for adoptive families to take a photo of their child with the statues on Shamian Island. Eliza would not stand there for us last year, but Tate seemed not to mind!

After the trip to Shamian, Tate fell asleep in the bus on the way back to the hotel. Blake carried him all the way up to the room asleep, and he slept in his crib for over an hour! Then it was time for some noodles for lunch with his big brother!

The guys walked around in the afternoon, stopped at the Friendship Mall for snacks, and picked up some Pizza Hut to take back to the room for dinner!

A sweet note and cake was delivered to the room for Tate’s birthday!!!! Oh my goodness, I SO want a bite of that!! We have gifts bought to have our own little celebration once Tate arrives home! We might have went a little overboard on the gifts, but can you blame us???!!

Tate’s TB test was negative, as were all the children in our agencies group! We exhaled a little bit when we got that news, because a positive TB test would not allow Tate to leave China. It is very, very rare for a child to have a positive test though.

We were just visiting with the guys on Skype as they start their Tuesday, and they are getting ready to meet our guide from last year, Aron, to head to the U.S. Consulate for their appointment! Their day is free after that, and Tate has already showed his swimsuit to his Baba to let him know that he wants to go swimming later today.

Please pray with us that Tate’s visa will be issued as expected! Continue to pray for the language barrier, and for Tate’s health too.

The guys only have three more full days in China before they start the long trek home!!

The guys had a big day! They met the travel group around 10 a.m. to head to a park. They climbed hundreds of stairs to get to this statue!

The parks are so beautiful in Guangzhou. They are filled with retired people exercising, dancing, and playing games together! Simon told the group that the people retire at a very young age in China, to make room for the younger generation to work. The women retire at 50 and the men at 55. The guys enjoyed watching the people in the park!

It is not as hot in Guangzhou as last year, but Grant told me he was sweating buckets after climbing all those stairs!

Here they are playing hacky sack.

Blake bought a hacky sack to bring home! It is not a bean bag like I thought it would be, but discs connected together with feathers attached to the top.

After the park, the group headed to the pearl and jade market. Tate had fallen asleep in the bus on the way there, so thankfully he was very mellow!

When the guys got back to the room, Tate fell apart. We are so very thankful that Tate finally started grieving all this change in his life. It is so very hard to watch, but also such a very important part of this process. Tate did allow Blake to hold him, which was a blessing too.

Once Tate settled down, they went swimming at the hotel pool and enjoyed visiting with one of the other families there.

The day got the best of our little man! But a nap before dinner was a good thing.

The guys were blessed to be able to borrow a stroller from the front desk of the hotel. They walked to McDonald’s to get some “take away” dinner! Tate LOVED the stroller, and so we are all thankful that they get to keep it until they check out!

The guys laundry was returned to them this afternoon too! Yay for clean clothes!

I got to visit on Skype again as their day was coming to a close, and Tate had his bath, got his jammies on, and drank his warm milk! I like our night time routine already! Tate takes his boat and his stacking cups to bed with him each night. How cute is that? He tucks them under his blanket right before he falls asleep. How I love that he has something to call his own. Sweet boy.

We also got to visit on Skype again this evening as the guys started their Monday!!

IT IS TATE’S BIRTHDAY!!

HAPPY FOURTH BIRTHDAY, TATE OWEN!!

We were showing him how to say he is now FOUR!

Tate was a hoot on Skype this evening! He is calling Eliza by name, Lane by name, and I am now Mommy instead of Mama! Then he tapped Blake to get his attention and said “Dad, Dad, Dad!” We were just giggling with him non-stop. He and Eliza have a great time on Skype mimicking each other and then giggling from their toes. It is SO CUTE!!

A couple more things before I close this evening:

*Lord willing, our plan right now is to spend the weekend at home, and head to UW Madison on Monday morning for Tate to see the neurosurgery team there. We have an appointment at noon that day. If we feel there is a need to do so sooner than Monday, we will go sooner, but right now we feel comfortable with this plan!

Please pray with us for our sweet reunion as a family, and for Tate’s upcoming appointments! Please also pray for good health for my three guys while they finish out this week in China. Pray for Tate’s transition as well, as he is really missing being able to communicate more with someone in his own language right now. Thank you for praying with us!

When we Skyped with the guys this morning our time, they looked so rested and much more relaxed! Did my heart good!

Tate is also getting more rested and relaxed! The more comfortable he becomes with his big brother and his Baba, the busier and wilder he gets!

The guys are with three other families from our agency this week. You really bond with your travel group, and the guys have three great families to do that with. In Hohhot they never saw another American all week long, and now they are surrounded by other American families! I am sure that alone is a great encouragement to Blake and Grant.

Thank you for your prayers for Tate’s medical exam! Simon prepared Tate for what was going to happen, and Tate cruised through his appointed time without one single tear! Tate even had his blood drawn, was taken from Blake to have it done, and came back without one tear to show his Baba his “owie!” Oh sweet boy, how we love your determined spirit!!

Tate fell asleep on the bus after the medical appointments as the group headed to go shopping.

The guys are on the 27th floor of the Garden Hotel. It is the same hotel we stayed at last year, but we were on the 15th floor. Their room is as luxurious as ours was last year! And the views out of the big windows just can’t be beat.

In the evening, the guys walked to a restaurant with the travel group and Simon the guide. They told me the food was delicious, and Tate did very well!! Tate is a great eater. He is eating a wide variety of things and his tummy has not been upset by any of it yet.

If you would like to see a GREAT photo of my three guys, and Tate devouring his soup the fastest possible way he could think of, go to this post here!

We are so thankful for SO many things!!! The families that are with the guys this week, the guide, Simon, and his heart to help these children through this process, for the doctors at the medical exam, and for our sweet little miracle Tate who just continues to astound us each and every day!!

They are one day closer to home, you all! One day closer.

I can hardly stand it!!

Thank you for all the support you are giving us right now! Every text, e-mail, phone call, visit, gift, and most certainly every prayer! The Lord is using each and every one of you for Tate’s sake!! Saying thank you will never seem like enough.

Six more sleeps till I get to hold our sweet precious boy!