Tuesday,
March 9, 2010
SIENNA
GRACE IS COMING HOME!
The United States Consulate has approved Miss Sienna Grace to
come home! We will be leaving China tomorrow night, and landing
in MSP on Thursday morning! Ruby Mei, here we come!
What a journey the last week has been. We have experienced the
highs and lows of adoption and parenting, great joy, great
concern, and great blessings. Ultimately, we had to reach out to
those of you supporting us to fill in the gap when we needed it
most. Thank you! It is such a blessing to be in a far away land,
and not be alone!
Sienna woke up today with the spirited personality that
characterizes her.
She, like the rest of us, could not wait to put on her shoes and
hit the road.
She was ready to leave the confines of our hotel room for
something non-medical related. For the first time in almost
three days she and I were able to join Jeff and Ainsley for
breakfast. We knew she was better when she had a good
old-fashioned Chinese breakfast of noodles, along with several
other items from the buffet! Did we mention, our girl can put it
away!!
Once we got the approval from the American Consulate that they
would indeed expedite Sienna’s Visa we had to head over to the
China Southern GZ office to get our tickets changed. What we
thought would be a quick visit turned into a humorous 2-hour
ordeal. It took that long, and three agents for them to tell us
they did have seats available and it would be $50 per ticket!
Thankfully, we were able to see the humor in it!
There were big blessings during that painful wait that happened
with Sienna. She had one full on temper tantrum that led to Mom
leaving the building with her. It was a battle of the wills, and
the big girl (me) won! This was really the first time we had
seen her let go since we met her on March 1st. She was mad as a
hornet over something I had to take away from her. This was
followed later by a good cry on my shoulder. Her cry sounded
like a little girl who was grieving over a very long week. I
just held her while she wept on my shoulder. She needed this
badly, and I am so thankful it finally happened. I saw a change
in her today after all of this. She willingly let both Jeff and
I carry her. She slept on my lap in the cab, and she climbed up
on me a couple of times just to hang out during a pizza party
with some friends. All of these things seem so natural to us,
but they are a big deal as you slowly start to love and trust
someone. Jeff is getting more attention too. We are waiting for
the damn to burst! He is so patient!
We had some friends we have met on this trip in our room for
pizza. A few highlights we don’t want to forget… When the pizza
arrived and we opened the box there were fresh whole jalapeño
peppers in the corner. Well, our spicy girl ate six of them!!!
Yes, her dinner was six jalapeños, an apple, a couple pieces of
pepperoni and water! Poor Sienna. She is coming home to the
wimpy family. Wow, will we need to spice it up in our kitchen!
Thankfully we have a few friends who can’t wait to fire it up
with her!
The other great thing about this night with our friends was how
well Sienna played with the other kids. We were so proud of her!
She shared her toys, and did a building project with little
Chloe. It was really fun to see her interacting with other
children so well!
One last thing before I forget to journal about it. Today we
Skyped with Sienna’s best friend from foster care, Shaelee,
(“Lindsey!”) This was the first time these two have seen each
other since November. When Sienna saw her, her face lit up and
she said “Nadia!” She has said this every time she has looked at
pictures of her too. Sienna was a little shy at first, but soon
she had lots to tell her old pal. We look forward to the day
they can meet in person! We are so thankful for Shaelee’s
special family and the relationship that God has orchestrated
for our families!
I sign off on my last night in China amazed at what has all
transpired since March 1st. Has it really only been eight days
since that confident little girl came off the elevator and
stepped into her new reality with us? We have journeyed many
miles together from Changsha to Guangzhou. But, now the real
journey begins. Sienna meets her new sister in two days, and we
will all work together to create our new life together as a
family of five. We are thankful for where we have been, and we
look forward to where God will take us from here!
Blessings from China,
Diana, Jeff, Ainsley & Sienna Grace
Dear Camp H,
How do you thank friends who willingly take in and love your
child for over two weeks. Never once did we have to worry about
Ruby. We knew she was happy, content, safe, and being adored and
loved!
Liz, you went out of your way to take pictures, record audio so
we could hear her sweet voice, and to make every day special for
her. Luke, you gave up your room and even let it be “girlified”
just for Ruby Mei. What a beautiful act of kindness. You are a
wonderful big brother! Jake, you took the time to play with
Ruby, hang out with her, and lead her like a true big brother.
She is blessed to have you as her friend! Jon, we know you made
it so fun for Ruby from pancakes, to swimming, to throwing her
over your shoulder, and to even making princess crowns. What a
gift your family is to us! We can’t wait to introduce you to #3!
We love you guys!!
Ruby Mei, only two more sleeps and we will be rubbing noses
again! We love you so much, and we are so very proud of you! You
have been brave, and so strong while we have been away. And, we
know you have had a wonderful time. Now it is time to come home
and take your new sisters hand. There is so much that she can
learn from you! We will see you on Thursday! Love, Mommy, Daddy,
Jie Jie and Jie Jie |
On Skype with "Lindsey"
The Mei Mei & The Jie Jie
Silly Sienna is back!
Safe with Daddy
Jordan doing Ainsley's name in Chinese
Our Jalapeno Girl
Wan An from China! |
