Monday, June 28, 2010

June 28th ~ WELCOME BENJAMIN JAMES ZI LEONARD

***MUST READ POST LISTED BELOW FIRST***

After what seems like forever, waiting this morning for our little boy to arrive at our hotel, I finally could not take it any more and I had to go down to the lobby to check things out for myself. As soon as I was in the main area, there he was! I quickly hid behind a wide column and starting spying on him. After a few minutes, I ran back upstairs to send Keith & Francesca down for a look for themselves. Once they returned, it took over an hour for him to be delivered to our room. As soon as the door bell rang, Keith rushed to the door to open it and there he was. One of his nannies was holding him and as soon as the two of them came into the room, I asked if it was OK for me to hold him. When I put out my arms to him, he simply reached out his arms and came right to me and held on tight. After holding him, rubbing his back, speaking soft words of love and of course feeding him some M&Ms, I decided to change his clothes (unfortunately the sandals I purchased for him are way too big so we will be hitting Zhengzhou Lotus store tomorrow for shoes). So far he has only "teared up a few times"...never really crying and not one bit of screaming, just some soft whimpering and tearing up but as soon as we see it happening either Keith or I quickly reassure him by rubbing his back, arms or legs speaking soft gentle words of comfort to him and he stops. Francesca is loving him ~ she just can't get enough and he is really taking a liking to her as well. We once again ordered room service ~ pizza, french fries and chicken wings ~ and he ate very well, Pretty soon I am going to have to head out to do a bit of paper work so this post will be short but before I end it, I would love to share a few photos that were taken and a little bit of information about him....

Benjamin is very VERY very tiny ~ smaller than Annabelle was.

He is shy by nature and is very observant!

He has really bond to both of us and knows how to put his own shoes on.

He is still wearing diapers...and (as of today) no longer on a bottle.

Might have some issues with his belly button and his testicles plus his bowel is also giving him some issues as well...

And as I am typing this, he is just SMILING away! {which is so priceless!}

But for now, you'll have to settle for these...

OK - that's about it for now for that LET'S GET TO THE PHOTOS!!!!!

I was able to get a few photos posted of Francesca and Benjamin playing - along with Benjamin sleeping! I swear he is taking my breath away and he is such a darling!


{PS - This truly was a blessing that he was delivered to our room for what we heard there were a lot of crying & screaming babies at the Civil Affairs office and from what Yisha said, it was crazy, crazy, crazy! Thank you Oh Heavenly Father Up Above for you had other plans for us today because our union was exactly how we all needed it to be ~ it was calm, peaceful, and simply beautiful!)

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15 comments:

Fiona said...

I've been checking frequently for this post! Congratulations!!! Benjamin is so cute! I love the photos, especially the one with the great smile and the one of him sleeping holding on so tightly to his car!!! Enjoy the rest of your time in China and then have a wonderful time as a family of 5 when you get back home! Love from WI - Fiona and family

Jboo said...

Oh my -- Congratulations! He is so adorable! What a day! His big sister looks so thrilled too!

Janet

Anonymous said...

Oh, Shelly! He's perfect! SO happy for all of you - I love the picture of Keith and Benjamin together! I just showed the pictures of Benjamin to Jameson and Elise and they CAN'T WAIT to meet him; they just asked if they could see all of the pictures again.

See you soon!

Kelly Metz

Chris said...

What a cutie!

So happy for y'all!
:)

Love Letters To China said...

Oh Shelly... there are not enough words to describe how amazing it is to hear/see this post. I'm so happy that you are finally holding your sweet little boy in your arms. I am so excited for you and your family!

Hugs...

Grace

Anonymous said...

Shell, Grandma must have been looking out for you because your getting Benjamin was just perfect. Everything will be just fine. He doesn't look all that tiny from the photos, it's hard to tell even with him standing next to Francesca. This one here is an itch today and I want to send her to the moon. Talk to you tonight. Love, Ma

Anonymous said...

Hi, Benjamin is so cute and tiny. I can not wait to give him a big hug. Scott Joe is sleeping so he did not get a chance to see him. We will talk to you tonight at 7PM EST thats 7 AM your time. Scott Joe misses Francesca lots. He keeps asking for her. Benjamin will have so much fun playing with everyone. Lots of love, Lisa
Happy B-Day Keith!!!!!!!!! ENJOY SOME COCKTAILS!!!!

Lori F. said...

Shell and Keith,
I cannot stop crying because seeing him is just amazing. He is so beautiful. I am so happy for you guys. I looked at the blog around 6:30am and left work. Because they block us at work, I had to wait until 5:45pm to see this. I have been wondering all day. I love you guys!!! Congratulations!!!
Love you
Lori

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

I am so happy to see your sweet boy in your arms!! As you said, everything happened for a reason and the way you met him for the first time was perfect in every way!! I could look at that these pictures ALL.DAY.LONG...... you can see the love and emotion in all of them!! I love the way he is holding onto you in that first photo...... it makes me wheepy just thinking about how you felt at that moment!!


Hope you had a wonderful day and it sounds like you are in for some shopping tomorrow!!

Be safe......and CONGRATULATIONS!!!

xoxo,

Lisa

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, he is so adorable. Love, love the picture of you two kissing. What an awesome birthday for Keith. Please tell Keith Happy Birthday from all of us. Congratulations to all of you, we couldn't be happier. Looking forward to more pictures. Love, Amy

Jill said...

OMGoodness! He is precious!!

Courtney said...

Congratulations. He is adorable!

mncfi said...

CONGRATULATIONS - he is gorgeous and looks like he knows he is home now. Much love to you all
~ Fiona (Mum to ZhiXia of Hope)

Jodee said...

Congratulations! He is absolutely adorable! I can't wait to see more pictures!

megadog said...

Just wanted to let you know that I have been following along since the beginning, and was so happy to see this beautiful boy united with his family. He is darling and I am thrilled for you.
We are heading to China shortly and enjoyed seeing the reunion. Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer in Utah.