Monday, November 19, 2012
GOTCHA DAY!!
We thought maybe we would sleep in a bit longer this morning
because we all stayed up and watched Captain America last night
on HBO – yes finally TV in English, but again were all up by
about 4:30am. I'm sure the anticipation of our day kept everyone
up last night. The breakfast here was was like a huge Sunday
brunch, complete with dragon fruit and celery juices, egg plant
with pork sauce, many flavors of congee, full deli platters with
hard cheeses and seeds of every type and a full salad bar. For
John, the best part was all of the sushi!
We had a long morning of waiting so we spent it unpacking all of
Taytum's clothes and laid out all of her lovey's. All the while
we talked about her and wondered who she would take to first.
Although Ally said she knew Taytum would learn to like her since
she is such a likable person. Shyla also spent the morning
putting together our gifts that we were asked to bring to give
the Taytums care givers as well as the city officials. We bought
some chocolates from Grahams and Jelly Belly's. She put them in
red bags and tied them with gold ribbon. But honestly, what kind
of gift is appropriate for the woman who has taken care of you
daughter for the past 21 months??
We still had quite a bit of time to kill before we could go get
her so we thought we would venture out and exchange some our
money and get some lunch. What an adventure. I feel like so far
this trip has been an education on China, so I've just got to
tell you a few more things while we wait for our Gotcha time to
come.
We are now in the city of Taiyuan, the capitol of the Shanxi
Province. All of the kids who are adopted from Shanxi,
regardless of where their orphanage is have to come to the civil
affairs office here. We will go to her town on Wednesday.
Taiyuan is a city of about 5 million. Just like Beijing, the
city is bustling with people, cars, bikes and motor scooters.
But unlike Beijing, there are very few people who speak English
here. Many people smoke and there is quite a bit of pollution so
a lot of people walk around wearing masks. They look like a mask
a Dr. would wear but they are all colors and patterns. Well, our
trip to the bank was a joke. No one spoke a lick of English and
all thought the girls hair and Connor's shorts were quite
amusing. We gave up on the money and went to find the KFC that
our guide had told us was around the corner. On our way there we
started hearing all kinds of fire works. Sure enough, there were
people shooting off fireworks in the middle of the busy street.
Still not sure why. Another thing that has caught my attention
is that many of the bikes here have what look like big oven
mitts on the handles, I'm assuming a great way to keep your
hands warm when your riding your bike on a cold winter day. We
finally made it to the KFC, pointed to what we wanted on the
menu, and waved to people as we ate. As we were walking back
there were quite a few school kids in uniforms that must have
been on a lunch break. They all stop at street corner vendors to
buy hot lunches, not quite sure what was being served up but it
seemed to be pretty good to them.
Ok – Now for the good stuff!!!
We made it to the civil affairs office about 2pm. We walked down
a long hallway and were ushered into a big white room with some
old couches and huge pictures of Chinese symbols. We went
through some paper work, chatted with a few new friends I had
made on a Yahoo chat group from kids that were in her same
orphanage, and waited and waited. We were all so excited and
kept staring at the door for it to open. There were 4 other
families waiting for their kids. One little boy was already in
there. He was crying so hard and wanted nothing to do with his
new mama. All of the moms looked at him and our hearts broke for
her. I'm sure we all wondered if our baby would cry like that
too.
Soon, three little ones were brought in. The first one a boy and
the second 2 were girls, both with cleft lips that had been
repaired. Hmmmmm, just last week they told me her lip hadn't
been fixed, but the last little girl looked an awfully lot like
her picture. Once the two others were given to their families, I
knew Taytum was the last little one in the pink hat. It was like
everything else in the room went quiet and it was just Taytum
and Mama. Her care giver put her down and she didn't really cry
but made this huge pouty face! As I picked her up I just kept
whispering Wer Shi mama (I'm your mama) to her. I was so
thankful for all of the lessons Marsha had given me. Within
about a minute she was quiet and just looking around. Instantly
she became our family. I fell in love with her even more than I
had ever anticipated. As the kids gathered around I told her who
they were in Chinese. Call me crazy, but I'm sure she understood
me. Within 5 minutes the kids had her smiling. We had brought
her a few little loveys that she took to right away. I quickly
signed some paper that John had been filling out, stuck my
thumbprint on the last page and we were asked to leave. A quick
trip for a picture and we were off to the hotel. We had to stop
to exchange our money, and in the time it took for John to go
in, the kids had her giving high 5's, waving hi, blowing kisses,
and best of all, giggling like crazy!!
Once we got back to the room, we let her just take it all in. We
gave her a bottle of water and slowing starting taking off
layers. Her outer layer was a pink sweater and black pants (with
red leather Puma high tops), next came a white button up shirt
with blue and red knitted pants, the last layer was a little
white t shirt with yellow and pink striped pants. She must have
been so thirsty because she just wouldn't put that bottle down.
We started giving her Cheerios and she would shove those in her
mouth right along with the bottle. For the next few hours we all
just gushed over her! She is such a copy cat. She would do
everything the kids would do. She is just so easy going and
loving.
When we were in the car waiting for John, Shyla said she must
have been so happy because of all the prayers we said. I know
she was absolutely right. For months my prayer has been that she
adjusted to us quickly and that somehow she would know who we
were. Words just can't express how well she fits right in. She
has taken to all of us just the same, she goes to all of us
easily. Many many thanks to all of the prayers, God definitely
heard them and answered, ten fold.
Her lip has been repaired, although I'm sure it will need a
touch up some time in the future. Her palate is still not
closed, but it didn't seem to slow her eating down! She has a
mouth full of teeth and seems to be in really good health. We
gave feed her some mac-n-cheese, gave her a bath and got her
ready for bed. She is the happiest little girl!! As I write this
she is sitting on the bed giggling while she throws bath toys at
Connor.
Not sure how to end this post. There is just so much to say. I
just can't express how thrilled I was to be able to give my
three older kids this experience. I know today was a day they
will never forget.
"I prayed for this child, and the Lord
has granted me what I ask of Him." ~1 Samuel 1:27 |
Taytum and Mama
Taytum and Baba
Pritz 6!
Introducing Taytum Mary Fulan
Giving Kisses
Giggling with Big Sis |
