Pretty fingernails and folding paper

Kam didn't want her to mess up her nails, so he was blowing on them for her.

Folding fans, just before the "episode"!

Our First Day with Thea

So sorry for the delay! The internet was down for a day :(

WARNING – I’m not a short & sweet blogger :) It is hard to decide where to start and what to include when describing our afternoon meeting Thea. There is so much and this could get really long! I don’t want to forget anything.
The four couples in our group gathered in the lobby at 3:30p, then took a 15 minute bus ride the Nanning Civil Affairs Office. When we walked in, there were babies screaming and crying, in separate rooms for “reunions” everywhere. We were told that there were over 20 couples from different agencies getting their babies today. We walked down a long hallway and into a room where 3 other couples had just received their children. One was Mark and Denise, who we met at breakfast. Their daughter was smiling and very happy, giving Denise a run for her money on the little slide in the room.
I asked Mark (Denise’s husband) if he would video when we received Thea. He was able to video the entire meeting. Unfortunately, I think we only got one or two photographs.
Our guide announced that the children would be brought in and Thea would be first. I looked into the hallway and she was standing next to her best friend, Sophia, and her nanny. I waved to her and she got a big smile on her face:) She had on a cute little white dress, with red polka dot ribbons and sparkly red shoes.
They walked into the room and the smiling stopped . . .the screaming, crying and fear took over. Our poor daughter was wailing and absolutely beside herself. Kam became so upset that he started sobbing. Poor thing was so concerned about her that he was an emotional wreck, even more than Mark or I.
As I tried to talk to Thea, Sophia was brought in for Lisa and Chuck. She was doing very well, happy, okay with the situation, UNTIL she saw Thea. Sophia became very upset that Thea was crying. She started to get in between all of us and pushed me away. If Kam tried to touch Thea, Sophia pushed his hands and gave the “don’t you dare look” :) Before today, Lisa and I wondered if the girls were really best friends at the orphanage. The relationship we saw and series of events were confirmation that they truly are. Thea calls Sophia “mei mei” (little sister).
Instead of asking questions, or sitting down with the director for a little while, David wanted to take the children back to the hotel. He said that Thea was too upset to stay and that we should get her out of there. He asked if we would keep Thea and Sophia together for a while, instead of going to our separate rooms.
I took Thea’s hand (she held it, quite unwillingly) and led her to the bus. She cried the entire time. We went back to the hotel, where Mark, Kam and I, along with Lisa, Chuck, Shawn and Nora went to our room. We attempted everything we could possibly think of to offer the girls – babydolls, chocolate, food, soccer ball, you name it. By this time, the crying had stopped a little and I started getting lots of nasty looks :) There wasn’t a thing I offered that Thea would take, at least not on “my terms”! Sophia would watch Thea, to see what she was going to do first. She wanted so badly for Thea to accept something, so that she could!! I can tell you one thing – the “stubborn and strong-willed” description of my daughter from her nannies is very, very accurate!
I had bought them a little “best friends” necklace, the kind where each friend gets half of a heart. They let me put it on them and I could tell that they thought it was very neat.
We received a phone call from David, to meet in the business center, to fill out paperwork for the girls. We went down and had to sign several forms and then mark them with red thumb prints. Thea had to put her foot in red ink and stamp it onto the paper. It made her giggle for the first time. I asked David to find out what her favorite things were. She said “ice cream and horses”.
Our missing luggage arrived just before we were to leave the business center. I was so excited. I opened up the suitcase and pulled out the doll. I showed it to Thea and asked her if she would like to hold it. You could tell that she REALLY wanted to, but no way, no how was she going to give in while she was in front of everyone! I finally asked Kam to set the doll on the table. While everyone had their back turned, she picked it up and smiled really hard. Then she cradled the doll and kept it with her the rest of the night.
After the paperwork for the day was complete, we all went to dinner together, at a restaurant right around the corner from the hotel. David had Thea walk around the restaurant and point to all of the things that she liked. She started to smile and I could tell that she was feeling pretty important. We had a nice time at dinner and Thea started to show more smiles. It was nice that Sophia and another baby from the orphanage were with us. Thea is very motherly. It is obvious that she helped take care of Sophia. The two of them have a really special bond. Of course, I HAD to order Thea ice cream for dessert (she wanted chocolate) and she shared it with Sophia, feeding her a bite whenever she wanted.
As we walked back to the hotel, I wondered if we were in for another screaming episode when we had to separate the girls for the night. I asked David to explain to Thea that we were going to go to separate rooms, but we would be together again in the morning. As we went our separate ways, Thea seemed fine. I did get a few nasty looks, nose up in the air, arm pulling episodes, but that is okay.
We went back into the room and had SO MUCH FUN trying to get to know Thea. She was enamored with the DVD player and wanted to watch Nemo. She watched it for quite a while, and then wanted to keep switching the movies. I pulled up pictures on the computer and showed her pictures I had with me. Unfortunately, they did not send the digital photobook I had made for her, so I don’t know for sure that she got it. Minute by minute, she started to interact with us. Pretty soon, she pulled out her backpack (the nannies sent her with a backpack full of her notepads and schoolbooks) and wanted to show us her schoolwork. She was SO excited to show us a card she made for us (I have no idea what it says yet) and a picture with a house, clouds and a sun. She pulled out schoolbooks that showed all the reading and math she has been working on. She took out a piece of paper and started writing her ABC’s!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was VERY proud of herself. We praised her non-stop and the showing-off went on for a while. Her schoolwork was amazing. She is super neat and all of the paperwork looks equivalent to things Kam has been doing in school.
Speaking of Kam, I haven’t mentioned that he has spent the entire afternoon doing everything humanly possible to try and make her happy. He tries to hold her hand, he caresses her head whenever she will let him and he pulls out everything he can think of to show her. He has offered her his Chinese money and every toy in our room. He was really excited when she became interested in his Nintendo DS. They sat on the bed together for a while and he showed her how to play it. I truly have the most tender-hearted, compassionate little boy in the world. Mark and I could not be more proud of him!!
After several hours of our time in the room, I took her to the bathroom and showed her the shower. She got undressed without a fuss and let me wash her hair and then her body. We put on clean pajamas and I asked her to brush her teeth.
Poor baby needs MAJOR dental work. Her gums began bleeding a lot. Her breath is really, really, really bad, I can visibly see several cavities right on her teeth and she needs an orthodontist. She has a very large mouth and a beautiful big smile. Unfortunately, her teeth need to be moved and straightened quite a bit. Can we all say “anesthesia”!!
To end the night, Thea climbed into the bed next to ours, covered up and went to sleep quietly, with a babydoll on each side of her pillow.
What a day! I suppose I’ve written enough. I promise the rest of the entries won’t be this long.
Enjoy the photos.
Off to bed.
Kari

Gotcha Day Photos

Trip to Wal-Mart Before Gotcha

This morning we met for breakfast before heading out to Wal-Mart. There are a lot of American and Canadian couples here in Nanning, waiting to meet their child. We met a really nice couple from Canada, Mark and Denise, who have waited three years for their first child. One of the best things for me while in China is meeting all of the wonderful couples and their children.
After breakfast, we met in the lobby to head to Wal-Mart. The last time we were here, it was quite overwhelming, with no room to move. This time was very different. Wal-Mart was not crowded and we didn't get swarmed :) Kam didn't get his head touched even once, which he was extremely happy about!!
Uncle Steve gave Kam a lot of Chinese money and it was burning a hole in his pocket. He and Shawn couldn't wait to get to the toy department. To my surprise, Kam didn't ask for a single thing, instead he asked me if he could buy a remote car for Shawn. He has his Daddy's generous heart :)
I forgot to pack a belt, so I ventured around to find one, along with pajamas, which I also forgot. Yes, yes, yes, I made checklists. Unfortunately, I made sure everyone else's checklists were completed, but didn't get to mine! We also bought candy, water and crackers. The word is that the suitcase will be delivered to our hotel sometime later tonight. Since I don't have a thing to give to Thea, I decided to buy a small baby and little stroller. Nora bought the same ones for Sophia so that they could use them together. The baby is not what I had envisioned, but it will do! On the bright side, we can give Thea the original baby I bought while we are in our room and videotape the whole thing.
After shopping, we stopped at Pizza Hut - YEAH!!! Kam wants me to tell all of his friends that it was the best meal ever :) Mark wants to point out that since Pizza Hut and McDonald's have popped up in China, diabetes and heart disease have skyrocketed!!
On a different note - We get to meet our daughter in only 2 hours!! I can't believe the day is finally here. I'm pretty calm, but very excited and anxious. Along with being excited for our family, I am thrilled to be with a group of awesome couples, waiting to meet their very first child. I get to witness several couples who have waited 3-4 years to hold their daughters - how cool is that? I keep telling them how happy I am for them.
I know things that they don't yet . . .like the fact that in a few months, they will look over at their daughter with complete awe and amazement, begin to cry and wonder how in the world they lived without her in their family . . . like the fact that they will love her just the same as a biological child, and wonder why they ever questioned that . . . like the fact that they will stare into their daughter's almond eyes every chance they have and thank God for the gift of adoption :)

I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET THEA!!!




Our guide David said that this huge fruit next to Kam is one of his favorites, but his Mom would never buy it because it smells REALLY, really bad!
I would like to take a taxi like this while I am here, but I kind of fear for my life :) After being here twice already, watching traffic in China is still one of the most interesting and amazing things to us !!

Nothing, Nap, Nothing

Well, today was a lot about nothing. Once we checked into our room, we sat around, napped and napped some more. It is 1:45a and I'm about ready to go to bed.

Mark says that my blog is boring this time around and I need to do something to liven it up. At around 10p he and Kam wanted to go to the 24 hour restaurant in the hotel. He had a few suggestions for fun photos.

Matthew, Kam says to look at the photos of the menu choices. He is sure you can pick out something yummy :)

I don't know if I've had too much rest today, not enough in the past week or I'm just dillusional, but I haven't been able to stop giggling. Mark ordered a pizza and when it arrived, the look on his face was priceless. He said "note to self - do not order pizza in China hotel"! It wasn't big enough to feed Ben, let alone Mark who consumes more food for his body weight than logically possible. He threw his hands up and said "that is it, I am surely going to starve on this trip"! I couldnt' stop laughing.

On Kam's food note - I have documentation to copy. I bought him a journal made especially for children flying to China to adopt a sibling. He was working on his page "What did you do today?". When it came to the question "yummy food I ate:", he wrote - granola bars, swedish fish, slim jim, sports bubble gum, M&Ms and little candies from my friend. Man, do I sound like a good mom, or what? :) I swear that Thea's suitcase has the healthier food to eat!!

Speaking of Thea's suitcase, I sure hope it gets here soon. I'm so disappointed that I don't have h er babydoll to give to her when we meet her. I think I might buy one at Wal-Mart in the morning.

I'm going to attach photos of the babydoll and her room at home. My mom and I worked on her room at midnight a couple of days before we left. It turned out so cute. I hope she likes it.

We have a long day tomorrow so I better quit typing. In about 13 hours I get to meet my daughter!!!!!

Hugs and kisses to the kids. Thank you Grandma Linda and Grandma Carol for keeping them safe and happy :)

More Photos

"Surely, I'm going to starve on this trip!"
Kam was bored while we were resting. He decided to make the most of the pillows on the bed.

Safe landing!

Thea's Room and Babydoll

Thea's room is pink, with a chalkboard all the way around. Our friend, Jenny, came over to write several Chinese characters around the room. The one in the photo says "Forever Family". Grandma Linda made all of the bedding and pillows. It turned out so nice. Pictures don't do it justice. I bought a shelf that looked like a crown when hung upside down. I spraypainted it, then hung material from it. The babydoll in the picture is the one in the suitcase :(