Last photo as a family of four.
The girls woke up at 5 am and we told them to play quietly until we went down to the breakfast buffet at 7. Amelie loved the buffet and said, “You can get as much food as you want!!!” I filled my plate with fried rice because breakfast in China isn’t complete for me without getting that off the buffet. They also had some fantastic spring rolls that all 4 of us enjoyed. Nadia declared them the best spring rolls ever! Once coming back to the room, we let the girls watch SpongeBob and various other cartoons in Chinese while I blogged and got the gifts packed up for the nannies and orphanage staff.
At lunchtime we took a walk and ate lunch at McDonald’s (this photo was staged by Nadia, she thought it would be funny). We were quite the entertainment for the people walking past the window. Then we went to the RT Mart (which is like a Chinese version of Walmart) and it was much nicer than the Walmart we had been to the night before, and it was closer to the hotel. Once we got back to the hotel we put the girls down for a nap and I tried to sleep, but my mind started going crazy. I had been doing really well up until then, just praying and asking God to calm her heart and make her not so terrified like Amelie was. I was feeling optimistic and we knew that 100s of people were praying for us and thinking of us and really praying for Dani. But I was ready for it to be here! Once we were all dressed we headed down to the lobby to have someone take a final photo of us and then WE SAW THE KIDS!!!! First I saw Jaime and Chris’ son Sawyer and across the lobby I saw Dani. I started to cry and wanted to just go get her, but I was worried about making a bad impression or violating the rules. So I asked Mike to zoom in and snap a photo 🙂
I know this photo is blurry, but it was super cute to see them laughing and waiting on their new sissy.
We went upstairs and double-checked that the room was ready and that the camera was set up. Then they knocked on the door and the orphanage director brought her in with our guide Maggie. She was fine until they handed her off and then she started to cry. It was a mad rush of noise and talking and the guide trying to translate for us. They returned the presents we had sent to her and also gave us a bag filled with snacks and these little milk boxes they said she loved. Finally our guide said that she would be back to do the paperwork and that we could ask the director questions tomorrow. I gave her to Mike and he walked around with her and showed her the mirror. She calmed down, but looked very scared.
Amelie trying to give Dani the Taggie Lion they picked out for her before we left Texas.
After a little while Mike gave her to me and she cried a little and then calmed down and sat on my lap. She started to wiggle off in tiny stages until she was finally sitting on the floor holding my finger with a death grip. We had told Nadia and Amelie to just do their thing and so she just sat their watching them play, talk and giggle with each other.
The guide came to our room to do our paperwork and at that point she had laid down on my foot and stayed there for about 45 minutes. My foot was asleep, but I wasn’t going to move.
My view.
While the questions were being answered Mike got on the floor by the table and got Nadia to start playing with the toys we brought for Dani, and she was watching very closely.
Mike rolled a little “Joker car” over to her and over time she grabbed it.
She had finally been calm for a while and so we knew she needed a diaper change and we braced ourselves for crying. She ended up doing okay and as soon as her jammies were on, she pointed to her clippy and bent her head down for me to put it back on.
After watching her sisters play with the stacking cups, she wanted to try. She was very intense trying all sorts of combinations. As it was getting late, since Dani wasn’t brought to our room until after 4PM, I ordered fried rice and dumplings from room service and we made some noodles in the room. She liked everything, especially the milk boxes they had brought. We let them stay up a little later than normal and then put all three girls to bed in the living room. Dani screamed when we put her in the crib, but Mike started singing and I rubbed her belly. The girls were telling her that they were right there and that they would be sleeping with her. Mike kept singing and she calmed down. We left the door open and the light on over our bed so she could see us until she fell asleep.
The sweetest thing for me was how many times Nadia came up and whispered in my ear, “Mom! I love her already! She is so cute! I love her already!”
After the girls went to bed we talked about how well the day really went and how totally cute she is. It hurts my heart to think of how disorienting it must be to not know the people you have been handed off to and not understand anything they are saying. I went to bed with a happy heart knowing that it was going to be okay. Thank you to all who prayed for us and have sent us messages of hope and encouragement and love for our family. We are blessed.