Halloween

Part of the Halloween tradition in our home is cooking-making. Zane refused at first, declaring, "that's a girl thing". But Shannon handed him the rolling pin, and Zane (aka "Bam Bam") loved it. And he loved even more the eating process.

Abby's best friend, Erica, is behind the mask. Hong Kong is still safe and sweet, and trick-or-treating is a fun thing for the kids. You must adapt though. Key to getting a load of candy is taking the elevator to the top floor, and then running down the staircase between each floor.


Hilliard kids this year were a pirate, Luna Midnight, Harry Potter (for the 5th year in a row), and a kitty cat.

Zane picked out his outfit last week and has put it on every single day. He doesn't yet realize it is a costume. English words #19 and #20? "Trick Treat"

A Day at the Beach

One of our few difficult moments with Zane has been washing his hair. He doesn't like getting his face wet, and is definitely timid with water. His first reaction to the crashing, tsunami-like waves you see below was to run the other way.

But Hudson soon had Zane calm and confident, playing in the sand and surf.

Isn't it great that on October 30th, we are spending the day at the beach! It was a holiday here in Hong Kong. "Climb the Mountain and pay respects to the dead" day. (or something like that). Hong Kong has 20 holidays a year, more than any other country. We celebrate Sweep the Graves Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Buddha's birthday.......most of which mean a day at the beach for us.



At times he seems to be a pudgy little toddler (like below), and at times he is this huge little boy with confidence and decisiveness. He monitored the sun for us today, and when it set at about 6:00, he declared, "The sun has set, it is time to return home now." Large and in-charge!
Zane obviously adjusted to the beach just fine, and asked us tonight at dinner: "Can we go to that good place again tomorrow?" His first two weeks in our family has certainly been unrealistic. Flying on planes, going to amusement parks, to the beach. We're going to have to ease him into the reality of schedules, and maybe even a kindergarten in January. He actually told a mandarin-speaking friend of ours, "I've already been to school. I don't want to go anymore."

But until then, life is a day at the beach...

2 Weeks in a family

A Day at Ocean Park

We did a family outing on Saturday to Ocean Park, our local amusement park. Zane loved the rides. He loves dolphins and his favorite movie is The Little Mermaid, so to have his big sister Abby (an Ariel look-a-like), and to see real dolphins and sharks for the first time was a thrilling way to celebrate 2 weeks of being part of a family.

Bedtime

There's no place like home.

Buses and boats

Today Zane got his first experience on the double-decker buses of Hong Kong. He had to be pushed on due to fear, but now he loves it.
Tonight we went on the Star Ferry, and watched as a cruise ship passed by us in the harbour. He kept saying, "This is a good place". We agree.

Where's Waldo

Where's Waldo? Find the white lady in the waiting room....
Day 1 back in Hong Kong was spent deep in bureacracy. 3 hours at Queen Mary Hospital to get blood drawn (platelets are at 20,000----still very low), and meet with a wonderful hematologist, Dr. Chan. In the tapestry of God's work to convince us to move forward, we were referred to this doctor by a hematoligist friend of ours in Memphis, Dr. Torrey Sandlund. Dr. Chan spent 3 years in Memphis doing a fellowship at St. Judes. ("Okay, God....we'll do it!" Isn't God good to nudge along our faith amid doubts and fears?....)


Zane cried about 5 tears in this room, as he watched the needle being shoved into his arm. Daddy almost passed out while holding him, but Zane and Mommy were just fine.

He's obviously used to a lot of medical procedures. He sat still while they drew 10 cc of blood for various tests. Once again, we were amazed.

Then I went to the Department of Immigration to extend Zane's 7 day transit visa. I had a doctor's letter explaining the need for 6 months extension. I asked for 3 months on the form. I was given 2 extra weeks. Hmmmm. That's not gonna work. But they assured me that I could keep getting 2 week extensions with new doctor's notes.

The goal: to get to the states at Christmas. Pray for Zane to be given a "dependent visa", which would allow him to stay in HK for longer than 2 weeks periods, and more importantly, allows us to pay less expensive rates for medical care.

Finally, 4

We made it! We were so excited to actually make our flight in time, and arrive in Hong Kong to see our big 2 waiting for us. Finally, the Hilliard 6 was all together.

Thanks Bradens, for picking us up and taking our luggage. Thanks too, to all those who pitched in for childcare for 12 days---Jon and Dor, Tob and Christina, Elaine, Scott and Marybeth, Mely, Scott. It takes a village....

Zane was starving when we arrived in HK, so we ate a quick bite at the airport, and then laughed in the car all the way home as he said, "this is a pretty place!", and "go faster, Daddy! The train is beating us!".

Last day in China

He's really quite spiritually sensitive. He speaks of Jesus often, and last night he prayed in Mandarin for us as we got ready for bed. He's still not crying, and we are the only ones that keep getting teary-eyed with immeasureable love and joy.






One of Zane's greatest concerns has been that the kids left in the orphanage "are crying because they miss me." He has asked us several times about ShanShan and Zhia Zhia, two of the girls "left behind" who have been placed in families but are waiting to be picked up. The pic to the left was taken the day we left the orphanage, and ZhiaZhia is in the pink.

Two days ago, we were on a group tour in Guangzhou with other adoptive families. As we shared stories, we put together that one family with our group, is best friends with ZhiaZhia's mommy-to-be in North Carolina. Photo above is of Melinda with her new daughter, and Shannon and Zane. Zane was so comforted to know a friend of ZhiaZhia's new family, and that they believe in God, too.

We leave for Hong Kong tomorrow. One prayer request is that we can make our flight in time. We take our formal "oath" at the US Consulate tomorrow at 4, and our flight is at 6:25. It'll be a tight squeeze. Thanks for praying with us.

23 years ago today...

As we were signing and dating adoption decrees today, we realized that 23 years ago today was our first date. Who knew that a great time at a football game would lead to 17 years of marriage and 4 kids. What a blessing...

Thanks to all who have looked at and/or posted comments on the blog. We really appreciate it.

And the printed version of this blog will likely be the "baby book".

Thanks for praying with us and allowing us to unashamedly share our joy with you all.

(Happy Anniversary, Mimi and Pawpaw!)

White "Stork" Hotel

Still having a great time with our 2 younger kids, but really missing our 2 bigger ones. Zane LOVES to ride on my shoulders, and has even added "sho der" to his vocabulary.

We're now in Guangzhou, where there is a US Consulate. All US adoptions of chinese children go through here on the final stop. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, where most all adoptive families stay because it's close to the consulate. It's nicknamed the "White Stork" hotel because of all the chinese babies with new adoptive familes. It's been really fun to hear stories of other families. It's been good for Mary Grace to re-live this experience, as we were here with her 6 years ago.



I bought this t-shirt for Shannon over a year ago, after we had had a failed adoption of a little chinese boy in Hong Kong. It was a way of saying, "let's keep going for it". 14 months later, it is getting worn for the first time. More importantly, the sentiment is being felt deeply, too. (In this picture, Zane is giggling and looking at a blimp passing by. He loves all things that fly)

JieJie and Didi (big sis and lil bro)

Mary Grace just handed me a picture she had drawn of two flags: USA and China. She had printed each of the family member's
names on their
respective flag.

She and Zane have formed an alliance, it seems.


Zane's English has not improved at all, but all of our Chinese certainly has. MG now can say: "I don't understand", "Good night", "Are you hungry?", "That's not okay", and "Wait a minute".

Saturday morn we fly to Guangzhou for the final stage. Back to Hong Kong on Tuesday. We're really missing our other kiddos, Abby and Hudson, and can't wait to get the entire family together.

Prayer and noodles

Zane has spent the last 3 years of his life in the Amazing Hands Group Foster Home. This privately-run, Christian home has done an amazing job in caring, loving, and teaching these kids. Zane insists that everyone be at the table before we pray. And he likes to sing bible songs at night, like "Deep and Wide", "Jesus loves Me", and "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho". We sing in English, he sings in Chinese. Extremely fun, and a testimony to his unusually stable and loving orphanage experience. A special thanks to Amy, Tina, Elaine, and all the others at Amazing Hands.



We searched for a restaurant yesterday that has Zane's favorite type of noodles, zha jiang mien. We found 'em, and he ate 'em!

We were braced and ready for a difficult transition, with outbursts of anger, lots of tears, and slow bonding. However, we've been pleasantly surprised to get kisses every morning, initiated hugs, and lots and lots of laughter.

We're not out of the woods, obviously. The tougher parts may be yet to come. But for now, we are savoring every minute of unexpected joy.

Just in time

We're now in Zhengzhou, Zane's birth province. All china-side adoption proceeding take place here. Everyone has been amazingly helpful. Our adoption worker today told us how glad she is to see Zane get a home, because they were afraid he would get past the age of "adoptability" and grow up in the orphanage. We got him just in time. God had greater plans, for both him and for us.

We'll be here for 4 days, processing paperwork. Actually, it's nice to have the forced down time to be able to spend extended time with Zane and Mary Grace. Photos are really worth 1000 words, so here's a few thousand "words" for you:

Great kids, Great wall

We were definitely getting the stares today on the Great Wall. White parents? How did they get a chinese boy? The inquisitive looks an stunted conversations are really interesting.

His English is obviously still lacking, but his sentence of the day was, "Gracie, Gracie, shhh!". Needless to say, Mary Grace is talking enough for them both.

He has quit calling Shannon "aiyi", which is a term for any adult woman, literally meaning "auntie". He's now quite happy to call her "mommy". And I'm "baba", chinese for "daddy".

Tomorrow we head to Zhengzhou for adoption proceedings. Zane's first plane ride, which has him thrilled already.

Sunday in Beijing

Day 2 with Zane has been even better than day 1. We keep waiting for him to start grieving, but it hasn't happened yet. The joys of a boy? (simple, unemotional?). We went to church this morning at a bi-lingual service, which was good for Zane. I think hearing Mandarin is soothing to his soul. Shannon and I are reaching down deep to find every Mandarin word/phrase we know, but we both ran out about a day ago.

What adoption would be complete without a trip to the bowling alley?! Non-verbal activities tend to be good for us all, so we gave it a shot. Had a great time and laughed a lot.

At a restaurant, the waiter came by to light the candles on the table. Zane looked at him and said, "No electricity?". Soooo cute. Ambience and mood lighting was evidently not a high priority at the orphanage.

Thanks for praying for us all. Abby and Hudson, we miss you a ton, but can't wait for you to see your new brother. He is really full of love and joy, with lots of laughter and lots of hugs.

the end of a perfect day

Here's a photo taken today in the courtyard of the orphanage. Both girls on the ends are already placed for adoption in the States, and are soon to be with their families.

Since the last entry, we went bowling and then ate mexican food. We all danced to a live band and had an overwhelming sense of God's goodness in our lives.

Zane is now taking a bath, and cheerfully taking his medicine. He's really, really, really, an amazing kid. We're blessed.

Gotcha Day

So far, soooo good. Beyond all our expectations, Zane has been amazing and the process has been smooth. Shannon went to the orphanage this morning at 10:00 to get a chance to see Zane and get a tour of the orphanage from him. We wanted Shannon to get some alone time with him since I have visited him twice before and he would likely remember me. Also, we wanted Mary Grace to arrive a bit later with me, just in case the orphanage scene would be traumatic for her.

Shannon took a small suitcase for Zane, and he immediately took it and said, "let's go". We were shocked with his mental and emotional readiness for leaving the only world he's ever known. We expect him to grieve in some form later, but it's nice that so far, he thinks we're the best things ever.

One thing to pray for is his platelet count. His current level is 11,000, which is extrememly low. He's quite bruised, and if we were in the states, he would be hospitalized. Now we get the task of touring around China and trying not to get him more bruised, and more importantly, to protect him from potential head injuries. We've got a doctor's appointment with a hematologist scheduled for the day after we get back to Hong Kong.

Mary Grace is doing great. We're all scrambling to use whatever Mandarin words we can come up with, and his is already repeating things we say in English. He's a sharp kid, and will learn the language in no time.

We all just woke up from a "family nap", which was glorious. (When is last time you and your family all took a nap together?) We're all pretty tired from travel, and the emotional stress of this whole thing.

Zane is really sweet. He initiates hugs and kisses, says "I love you" and "thank you" without prompting.

As Steven Curtis Chapman sings, "When love takes you in, everything changes". What a joy to be a part of the process of this great change in his life.

Abby, he is still as cute and sweet as he was a year ago when you and I met him and named him.
Hudson, you are going to love laughing and playing with Zane. You're going to be an awesome big brother!
Grandma Mary Beth, you're going to love feeding this guy. He can eat! We thought all the pudginess was due to the steroids, but now we're not so sure....

Thanks to all for praying and walking through this process with us. More to come

Hilliard Boys

Here's a photo of Hudson and Zane taken in August. On our way back from a mission trip to Mongolia, we got "stranded" in Beijing for an extra day, giving Hudson and Brett a chance to run by the orphanage and wake up Zane from a nap. He didn't know at this time that we were his family....just another random volunteer coming through the orphanage.

2 Pics

Below left is a picture of Zane about a year ago. Obviously, he's a bit bigger now, both due to growth and due to the steroids he's taking for his blood disorder (ITP). Below right is a group from the orphanage, which is called "The Farmhouse". Most of these kids have already been adopted. Zane's best friend is on the far right, and is now named Matt. Zane has the #10 shirt on.

48 hours

It's Thursday afternoon, October 12th. Our flight leaves tomorrow to Beijing, and then we get Zane on Saturday. We're taking Mary Grace with us, and she is both excited and nervous. I think she feels the impending de-thronement, and is perceptively uptight.

Tickets secured, four different hotels reserved, visas obtained, hearts prepared. We're ready.

Going to try to figure out how to post a photo on this little blog....but it may be technologically out-of-reach, so don't get your hopes up.

We had hoped to have Zane by now, but October isn't too far behind our schedule.

Let the bonding begin.