Priceless

18 Documents Typed, Certified & Authenticated
6 Background Checks
2 Vital Records Tracked Down
4 fingerprint Sessions with INS
14 Typed Pages All About Me
4 Weeks to get My I-171H
2 More Weeks to Get My Name Spelled Correctly
8832 Hours of Waiting
22 Hours of Travel
7 Plane Changes
1 Bus Ride
Uncountable Hours of Anxiety
My Daughter Finally in My Arms ~ Priceless!

Our 2nd Day

Tuesday

We went back to the Adoption Registry Center of Guangzhou (ARC) to finalize our adoption with them. Yesterday was one of the happiest days for me, but also a sad one knowing that the babies are in shock and are starting to realize, hey, you are not my nanny. We are all a little bit nervous returning to the scene. We have made friends with a few other families from other agencies as well and they are there too. One gal about my age is here with her mom who is in a wheelchair and I am amazed at how they do it. Her baby is cleft palate and it looks pretty severe, but she just smiles. They are so full of love and grace that I could only hope to be like them.

The officials interviewed each family and asked if we promise to treat her like our own, give her a good education, not discriminate against her. We take our family Adoption Certificate picture and will get that tomorrow. We love her already. She is ours. Tonight we have a group dinner at the Cow and Bridge Thai restaurant. Many of you reading this have eaten there. I will include you in our dinner blessing. (dinner was a bust…Kendy would cry whenever we sat down so we traded off and walked her outside. Too much noise, bright lights, strange people, reality). Kendy is catching a little cold and had a more tearful day today. Even though it is to be expected, it still breaks your heart knowing she is probably in emotional pain and turmoil. She will go to me and Kip, but I wear her most of the time in a front carrier. She does not like people touching her, especially her head- She kind of squeaks when they do. Taylor was upset at first because she could not really touch her, but Kendy is getting used to her and will let her touch her now. We put a ribbon and bow in her hair this morning and she promptly removed it! We still got a good picture!

Our next stop was the grocery store to purchase diapers, formula, snacks, etc. We found what we needed and herded our group back to the busses and home to the hotel.

Kendy is napping and Kip & Taylor have gone to lunch. I am trying to upload pictures of our little ladybug so you all can see her! You will love her too. (finally have internet !!)

My Favorite Moment....Gotcha!

Again we took our busses for the 20 minute drive over and unloaded in a part of town that we were advised not to go to on our own, ever. The 8th floor was packed with families from all over and other agencies. Some were sitting with their new babies, lots of crying and chaos. Our babies from Lianjiang were in the playroom behind a curtain. I wanted to just go in there and grab Kendy! We double checked our paperwork and then after 20 minutes they started calling family names. Of course we wanted it alphabetically! We were the 3rd family called and we walked up to the center of the room and they walked out with Kendal May Xinfan and put her right into my arms. There was so much adrenaline going through our bodies that I am thankful someone took pictures. My first thoughts were how tiny and cute she is and how happy; Kip thought she looked better than her pictures; Taylor thought she looked more beautiful than her pictures. She kept a little giggle going on the entire time we waited at the Center. The SWI representative said she was a happy baby and well-liked by everyone. She just cooed and softly giggled while we went through the process. Thankfully Kip took video when we asked our questions about Kendy. She is still on a bottle and is not potty trained!! The bottle kind of scares me, but I will get it. Finally after a couple of hours we left and went back to the hotel. Taylor and I gave Kendy her first bath and bottle and then we went out to dinner. She fell asleep while we were walking and did not wake up until 7 am. Almost all the babies slept 1-12 hours. It felt good to get a good night’s sleep after spending so much time in chaos at the ARC.



.• ¸.•*¨)
¸.•´ (¸.*
Terry

Gotcha Day

Monday Nov 8 White Swan Hotel Gotcha Baby Day!!






I hope I can put into words the journey we are experiencing. It is Gotcha Day today and all the families meet up for breakfast and then walk next door to the Bank of China to exchange our money. Then we had 4 hours to kill so we walked the streets just outside of the White Swan Hotel. It is similar to Cherry Creek North shopping in a grid but not quite as nice. Still it is sunny and warm and we are on cloud 9. Found the Starbucks a few blocks away and did a lot of comparison shopping for best prices. The shopkeepers were very excited! They know we are getting our “lucky baby” today and we will want and need to buy things from them. I actually did find the two dresses for my girls to wear on the Red Couch. We had lunch at a little deli connected to the hotel. Love the BBQ pork and rice dish with bok choy. Then it was time to get ready to go to the Adoption Registry Center of Guangzhou (ARC).

Funny, but we are actually calm having gone through this before with Taylor where I was not calm but over excited to say the least. My heart and nerves go out to the first timers not really knowing what to expect. My butterfly's hit me about 15 minutes before we load the bus at 2 pm to go the Civil Affairs office to receive the babies.

almost...
.• ¸.•*¨)
¸.•´ (¸.*
Terry