Day Three!

So It’s 4 am again.  😀

Hope is doing phenomenally well.  She is such a smiley child.  Katie is also doing great and has not stopped talking since we landed in China!  I thought it was a little anxiety but I’ve decided that it is just being away from Jay!  Who knew she could challenge Jaden in the chatterbox department?

It is Wednesday morning and today Hope will see the orphanage people again.  I’m a little worried about this for Hope.  She obviously cares about these women (and is cared for) but I feel that it has the potential to hurt her.  

Tim and I walked to WalMart yesterday and I baby-wore Hope.  It was fun to get out and about on our own and the girls both did well and had fun.  Hope wouldn’t let me out of reach though and was more touchy than normal (which is saying something as she is really working on filling her touch bucket).  She was so relieved that she was giddy when we got back to our hotel.  Tim and I felt that she must have thought we were bringing her back to her former orphanage.  I’m worried that when she sees the orphanage folks, she will think we are giving her back.  I want to believe that she would consider that a sad thing but of course, she might think it was a good thing too.  Either way, it stands to be a wrenching thing for her.  If she is happy with us and wants to stay, seeing them will hurt, if she is happy to go back, seeing them leave will hurt.  

The only time she has cried since she joined us has been at bedtime.  Each night, she clings to my hand as silent tears run down her cheeks.  I don’t know the meaning of the tears, perhaps she misses the other littles more at night or maybe nights were hard for her at the orphanage.  Maybe the tears are just a way to release big emotions that build up all day.  Either way, it hurts this mama’s heart to see her sad.

Will y’all join me praying for Hope?  I don’t want her to let today steal her happy.  I hope this gives her a little closure and  confirmation that we will never abandon her.  

Gotcha!

Its 4a.m. And I’ll make this fairly short but we have Hope!

She is doing amazingly well so far.  She and Katie are doing great together and Katie is really trying hard to be a supportive big sister.

Gotcha was quick and to the point but there were some surprises.  Apparently Hope is one of the director’s favorites.  The director was tearful and obviously sad to see Hope go.  She asked if she could give Hope a special necklace that the director had gotten for both Hope and for her own daughter.  She also asked if she could keep in touch as her daughter lives in the US.  This was a first for us.

Hope is not potty trained yet, which is unusual, in our experience, for the orphanages.  They seem to generally train fairly early.  So, oops, we did not bring changing pads, wipes , diapers or a diaper bag.  Of course all of this is available here, it was just not exactly what we expected.  She is also a serious chunk.  Our others have been thin to the point of concern but goodness, not Hope.  She is seriously so heavy that I “oof!” When I pick her up or when she plops into my lap.  She already comes over to me and raises her hands and says “oof” to me when she wants up. 😂  She spent several minutes just getting up and collapsing back into my lap because Katie thought it was so funny.  Hope and Katie both had a good laugh over the abuse of my bladder.  (Sorry if that’s TMI.) She also doesn’t seem to have an off switch at meal times.  The only way to distract her is to leave the food which is tough because, (for those of you that have ever had a meal with Katie, you know where I’m going with this) Katie is the proverbial turtle at meal times.  Hope had eaten an entire plate of cut up fruit before Katie had finished 2 little squares of watermelon.  This is going to take some time to figure out the best way to keep both girls healthy.

Tim has been glowing he’s so happy to have our girl.  She definitely prefers mama right now she’s willing to let him feed her.  Initially she didn’t let him pick her up but she’s already over that.  She’s warming up to her daddy much more quickly than her big sis did and that makes Tim a happy daddy.

Ten hours til Gotcha!

Well, here we are.  

We have reached Beijing, and in less than 10 hours we should have Hope with us.

This is our fourth adoption journey, and in some ways it has felt like a somewhat comfortable routine, but in some ways it has been so different. 

At this point, our biggest concern is how Hope is going to feel over the next few days and weeks.  (Not how she will act, but rather the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that she will experience.) 

We can only pray that she will somehow have some sense of peace, or at least that peace may come somewhat quickly. 

Try to imagine leaving everything you have known ... and being placed with strangers who look different, sound different, smell different, and act different than anyone that you have ever been around. 

Even as an adult, I would be overwhelmed if you dropped me down into a culture that I had no previous knowledge of and expected me to just accept this as my new life.  And since I cannot imagine experiencing this as an adult, I certainly cannot imagine what this will be like for a 3 year old. 

The good news, though, is that we do have faith that she will adjust and accept love. We are confident that love will win in the end, but we just pray for her to have a sense of comfort during this journey. 

Thanks for everyone's prayers back home!  They are greatly needed and appreciated. 

The great news is that in just a few hours she will no longer be an orphan.  Instead, she will be part of a family that is ready to love and cherish her and is ready to shower her with love. 

Our expected meeting time is 8AM in Beijing on Monday, which is 7PM back in Oklahoma (counting the the time change). 

We'll be in touch soon!

🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐣