Exactly one year ago today we saw Nadia’s face for the first time. We anxiously paced around the house that morning, waiting on the phone call we knew we’d be receiving that would let us know about our future daughter or son. That phone call and the next hour or so of waiting for them to scan and email the photos to us made it a seriously emotional day. Here’s a link to the posts we made that day. The next day or two I was worthless at work, and the next six weeks before we traveled to China were about the slowest six weeks of my life.
Not a single day has gone by since that I have not thanked God for her and for giving me the privilege of being her father. It is a humbling experience to see how wonderful she is and realize that God chose me of all people to be her father. I am blessed with the most supportive and loving wife in the world, and the greatest daughter that anyone could ever hope for. It is truly more than I deserve.
Here’s my new favorite picture of Nadia. I love it because it captures an aspect of her personality that we see often but don’t photograph as much…the intensity and seriousness with which she analyzes the things around her. I think that intensity is the reason she is so advanced for her age.
China 2008: New Day Foster Home (click to see album)
I know everyone is used to Louanne posting, but I thought I’d take over for today.
Today is my birthday, and anyone who truly knows me knows that the last thing I want…ever…is to get presents or have attention brought to me. I have a great life, the best wife and daughter anyone could hope for, a great job making a decent living, and too many other blessings to list. I don’t need anything, and if I really want something I can afford to go buy it myself. The only thing I ever truly “want” is for children who need help to get the help they need. So, whenever someone wants to get me a present, I don’t hesitate to tell them that the BEST thing they could do for me…the thing that I would like the most…would be to take whatever money they were going to spend on me and help a child with it, like through World Vision or some other good charity. People frequently look at me strange when I say that, and I think they usually don’t really believe me, but it is true nonetheless.
So, that little bit of info about me will help you understand why a day like today is the kind of birthday I truly like. We are interested in getting involved with some charities or orphanages here in China, and we wanted to make sure that we visited at least one while we are here. So Louanne arranged for us to go to the New Day Foster Home today, just outside of Beijing. Our school helped us to arrange a driver to take us, and then the VP’s wife and little son decided to go too. We loaded up 400 diapers, a bunch of baby wipes, and my camera equipment and took off this morning for the 90 minute trip to get there. Louanne managed to come in contact with a couple of sets of parents who are waiting to adopt two children from there, so one of the things we hoped for was that we would be able to get some photos of their children for them. I know what those three little pictures of Nadia meant to me before we got her, so I really wanted to be able to get some picture for those waiting parents.
Anyway, the place is fantastic! They are doing a wonderful thing, and helping lots of children. Getting to see the children, play with them, take pictures of them, and get familiar with the place was wonderful. We won’t hesitate to sponsor their children or try to find other ways to help them in the future. Oh, and both of the children (Emma and Aaron) that the two couples are waiting to adopt were there–they are with foster parents, so there was no guarantee they would be there–so we got to take lots of pictures of them. Getting to take a bunch of picture to give to two waiting families made me very happy. Click on the picture at the top to see some of the pictures we took today. There are so many pictures of Emma and Aaron that I didn’t post all of them in that album; they have their own albums on our photo page: one for Emma and one for Aaron. There is also an album for another child called, Jade.
Later in the day after we got back to the apartment, and after Nadia had a much needed nap, we took her down to the playground that Louanne has visited and posted about a few times before. Nadia had a great time and orbited the whole playground like a little Sputnik for about an hour…and I got a lot of great pictures of her (click the top picture below to see the set).
So, all and all, this was probably one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had, because it wasn’t about me. I got to see some great kids, found a new charity worth supporting, got to do something for some waiting parents, and got a bunch of pictures of the greatest baby in the world, whom I’m privileged to have as my daughter. What more could I ask for? I can’t think of anything better.
…and Louanne just reminded me that food has to be mentioned in every post, so…after leaving the playground we stopped by the New York House again to grab some awesome burgers and fries to go.
The best $25 we spent was on the baby bassinet for the long flight home from Guangzhou, China on China Southern Airlines. (note to waiting families – you have to call at least 24 hours in advance for this to get the bulkhead seats and for them to put the basket on the flight) Nadia slept about 10 hours of the 13 hour flight which was a great blessing. Now of course it’s 4:14 am in LA and we can’t sleep. We got Nadia to bed about 15 minutes ago since she woke up at 1:40 am ready to rumble because it was day time to her and she slept so much on the plane.
So we are hoping to get a little more sleep before my mom shows up at the hotel in the morning to meet Nadia. We may all fall asleep on her! We are also hoping to get a late check out, but they say they can’t tell us until after 8am. Our flight to DFW leaves at 5 pm and we should land at 10. Then home to our comfy bed (you can’t BELIEVE how hard the beds are in China) and so that we can have food that is normal. I was just relieved tonight to be able to use the water at the hotel without fear.
Once we landed in LAX and went through immigration Nadia was an AMERICAN citizen. WOO HOO!!! One more flight and we are home!!! Thanks for all your prayers, and to Jen – thanks for your sweet welcome home call. We love you! Louanne
P.S. To the Hatchers if you see this before you leave – Nadia was very frightened at the beginning of the flight and we could tell that she was really nervous. We fed her and changed her before the flight and had Gerber graduates on hand to give her as a distraction. Once she got sleepy we put her in the bassinet and she seemed like she felt “safe” in there. She really was snug as a bug in it and they have a little flap that they ask you to secure over the baby in case of turbulence if you fall asleep. Most of the babies did well, but there was crying off and on throughout the flight because of all the babies on the flight. Good Luck and I hope the strike doesn’t affect you guys.
This is Michael holding Nadia just before we left China. Michael is the guide provided by our agency, Great Wall China Adoption. I don’t know what GWCA pays their guides, but it he earned every penny of it. He was invaluable every step of the way. Not only did he get all of us wherever we needed to be at any moment, but he managed all of the many procedures and bureaucracy that we had to go through while there, constantly getting the appropriate documents from us to translate them if necessary and get them where they needed to be…and he even found time to take us on tours, order pizza for families when they wanted it, take me on a funny two-hour adventure to get a Chinese laptop, and a host of other things. We are definitely thankful for his help and don’t know if we could have got through it all without him.
