Finally here

So much has happened since we landed in Ch*na Monday night.  The first thing was none of our luggage arrived and it was 11:30pm and we were so tired after flying for over 24 hours and not sleeping much at all.  Then when we got to our hotel which by the way is a awesome place to stay we found out that the U.S. consulate had located a half brother which doesnt live in Ch*na and they need him to sign off before releasing a passport for Shane.  This is proving to be a fight to the very end!  Tuesday was a much better day with being able to rest and our luggage arrived which made everything better.  Our travel approval was cleared at 4:59pm on Tuesday which made it possible to have a Wednesday gotcha day.  Tuesday we discovered that the VPN that we had in place didn't work why it did Monday night we will never know.  So we didn't know that we had received our TA or about what was happening with the half brother.   Wednesday we spent walking the city and getting a feel for where everything is.  Then at 3:30 we met our new son who we have fought so hard to make ours.  It was an experience that I don't think I will ever forget.  He has a sweet personality and so willing to please.  The language barrier is hard for him and the city seems to overstimulate him so we are spending a lot of time in our room right now.  Today the moment we have waited on for weeks finally arrived when he signed the paper to become ours.  He had a choice but he was brave and said yes to the unknown.  Tomorrow we apply for his passport believing that all papers will be done in time for a consulate appointment the last week of January.  Saturday we will celebrate his birthday and fly to Hefei in the afternoon.  Prayers for the language and for him to feel safe with us.  And then there's the whole TV issue which some who have adopted older kids know what I'm talking about.  He would rather watch TV then anything else but we are trying to bond and also walk a fine line of knowing when you can start placing boundaries in place.  Right now we have been having problems getting pictures in our blog so I will send them at a later time.