The Gift

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15

I am writing this on Tuesday afternoon. The hotel did not have Internet access last night (Monday) so we apologize for not posting a most incredible day! I will write this post as if it were Monday night.

When we got to the hotel breakfast, we headed for the buffet. OK only one or two things looked like "breakfast". We each took a hard boiled egg and juice. We later found the "western" breakfast area and realized we could order eggs any style. Also they have pain au chocolate - a favorite of mine from France. We ran into Bobbie and Tom (Al Moe's nephew) and their daughter, Emily. I tell you, this is one small world!. After breakfast, we wandered around the hotel. Everyone on the 9th floor here is adopting. I think I had mentioned before that there are about 10 families here adopting. We spent time talking to one gentleman. They are in the next room and adopting a 5 year old. It is their second adoption from China. They have 9 year old (bio) and a 3 year old.

For lunch, we went to McDonald's. I know, sounds sooo American, but you can only eat so many noodles. Right away, the cashier pulled out the "see and point" menu. Vince had the Big Mac meal and I had the cheeseburger Happy Meal. All for less than $5. People were staring at us. How novel for Americans to be in McDonald's! We went to a shopping center afterwards and looked around, mostly to make the wait more bearable.

We met Mary, our lovely guide, in the lobby at 3pm and we were off to the Guangxi Fucai Hotel to meet Lara. We were ushered into a room with a few toys and after some time were told to go to another room. On our way to the other room, Mary said "Look, there she is". She was with 3 ladies from her orphanage in the hallway. She was wearing a light green fairy dress and squeaky shoes. She is absolutely beautiful. Her hair was pulled back in to two braids that were tied together in the back of her head. I bent down to greet her but she didn't want anything to do with me. Vince tried also and we went back into the waiting room and started playing with the toys. They were telling her "it's your mama. it's your baba". She went hiding into this caterpillar and was peeking out these little windows. She didn't want the doll. Lara told the nanny "I'm afraid of her", and started wailing. Every time they would say "mama" she just shook her head NO. It was sooo hot. I took her and she continued to wail and we were all wet with tears and sweat. She went back to the nanny and we went into the hallway, but she was still wailing. In the hallway she said she wanted to go to the elevator. Mary said she was very smart to say this.

She kept saying "No way" in the hallway, sobbing the whole time. It was difficult to remain composed since she was in such distress. She started waving bye, bye. She said "Mama, I don't want to keep". We tried bribery some more with crackers but she said she wasn't hungry. We tried the animal book (thanks, R, we will owe you a book). The nanny was telling her, "if you continue to cry, you will not be beautiful". There were several children being placed with their parents and there was crying and screaming everywhere. They wanted her to take our hand but she refused, boo-waa (no way!). We found out that she had been with her foster parents right up until the night before because they wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. They truly loved her and I am sure it was very difficult for them to give her up. She is so beautiful and very attached to them.

After a few minutes of trying to reason with her, we pulled out photos of our home and her big brothers. We had picture of the farm and cows. She said "no, that's not my house". She was still sobbing (this is after 15 minutes). In the hallway, they had a shopping bag with several items in it, including a 100 family quilt, that we found out later, had been put together just a couple short weeks (since they found out we were making one, I think she thought that she had to make one). She was wiping her own tears and nose and the book started to keep her entertained. She loves animals (very unusual for children here). The book is a sound book with four animal sounds and pages with each one, chick, sheep, horse and pig. She was pushing the buttons for the sounds and turning the pages. We got out the animal finger puppets. She seemed to enjoy this and was calming down a bit. However, she would wail every now and again. She took the book and we went into a room (this is another 15 minutes later).

In the room, she started warming up to Vince a bit. The nannies started to leave the room one by one, but the head nanny stayed. She said I should hold her. But when I tried to take her, she said "I'm mad!". I eventually took her and she was crying and trying to get away. After a bit, I handed her to Vince. He fought her a long time. We told her that if she wanted to get down that she would have to hold our hands (mostly so she wouldn't bolt). She finally got down and took our hands. We looked around the adjoining room. Upon realizing that all the nannies were gone, I think she just gave up. We got out the camera and took a few pictures of her. When we were ready to take the photo, she would giggle and then she loved to see herself in the camera. She let baba take a photo of her and mama and then mama took a photo of her and baba.

Then, we let her take a few photos. That was really the icing on the cake! We went down the hall, jumped into the elevator, down to the lobby and got into our van for the hotel. This whole event probably took 55 minutes. She was becoming very attached to baba. Mama was the pack mule.

We arrived at our hotel and came to the room. Mary came to the room and I took care of the paperwork with her. The book was Lara's security blanket and she would only let Vince hold her. Mary suggested to go for dinner and then possibly a Wal-Mart trip to keep her stimulated and so she might sleep better. We played with her in the room. We had the cameras out and she had the photo album. We would say "Ge ge Keegan and ge ge Oliver". She saw the video of Keegan playing baseball and then pointed to the picture we have of him batting and said "Ge ge Keegan" plain as day. It was her first "English" word! Aren't you so happy, Keegan? Oliver, it is difficult to say your name with the "l" sound. She may be saying it, but we don't understand.

We ate in the hotel restaurant. When we were ready to order, the waitress asked "What for the baby?". We answered with "Ask her". So, Lara ordered the rice congee with chicken (like chicken with rice soup only very thick). It came first and she ate slowly. When our beef tenderloin meals arrived at the table, she was eye-balling our food. We cut it up and put it on her bread plate - the meat, corn, kidney beans and broccoli. She enjoyed it very much and also was eating the congee. We then went to what we thought was Wal-Mart. It turns out, Wal-Mart was actually next door to the shopping center we were at, but all the shopping centers seem to have their food items on the bottom floor. We purchased diapers for the orphanage and chocolate for the foster family.

We arrived back to the hotel when it was dark. Going up in the elevator, Vince was holding her and I kissed her on the cheek. She kissed me back! I was amazed! I think she gets it. Mary was saying this afternoon how she puts two and two together very quickly. We got the TV on and she seemed to like the cartoons. She took a quick bath - she is still leery of me, but I think she felt dirty and we know she likes baths, and put on her pj's. Like I said at the beginning, the Internet service at the hotel was down and we really wanted to post but were unable to. We all turned in around 10:30pm. She is pursing her lips and trying not to cry, but the tears are rolling down her cheeks. I rocked her and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle..." and the alphabet song until she fell asleep.

It was a very emotionally exhausting day for all of us. But, we have custody of our little girl until tomorrow when she will officially become our daughter (they give you a trial period).

Keegan and Oliver, we wish we could have talked to you tonight. We are so excited for you that you have a beautiful little sister. She adores your photos. You are very special to her already! Mommy and Daddy miss you a lot. We love you!