The Wait is Over

The wait is over!

Whew, it’s been a long and exhausting day. James and I are worn out and it’s only 8pm. But across the room from me in a portable crib is the newest Froisland( to be) sleeping peacefully. Oh the bliss…

Our day started at 5am, which we thought was 6am until we realized an hour and a half later that James had set the clocks incorrectly. We left at 9am to go to the orphanage. It is a long process (and a white knuckle experience) to get anywhere on the crowded streets, and it seemed even longer as we knew what was waiting at our destination.

The orphanage is actually 2 huge buildings, one of which is primarily for special needs kids. We were led to a room to wait and to handle more paperwork. It was at that time we realized they had misspelled my name on the travel invitation (Juile) and a new one had to be issued. Thankfully, because we were in Beijing, it was not a huge issue to get a new one. (Interestingly enough, when we get home I have to mail back the travel invitation I have at home. Because it is an official document they want it back.) When we picked up the new one I was able to go into the government office that issues them. As the lady was looking over my passport and matching it with the new travel invitation, I looked on the floor and saw a huge stack of travel invitations. It was wonderful to think that each piece of paper represented another child that was going home to a family.

Waiting in the room for our babies was of course tough. We were waiting for some official to come and make a pronouncement or something, when in walked a 7 year old boy with no fanfare or warning. What a darling boy, full of smiles as he came to his new family. Now all of us were in tears watching him hug his new parents. The eagerness level was now ramped up to code level red. Our hearts went thumpity thump as we saw movement in the crack of the door. Finally, in came two little girls being carried. We were not sure at first which was Kara, but then after a closer look (and me inwardly screaming, “Can I have her pleeeeeeease?????”) I knew that the wee little thing in the white pants and yellow top and squeaky shoes (purposely so, to our dismay) was our sweet girl.

She was led to us (squeaking all the way) and tears streaming down our faces (at which she looked at us warily, for good reason) we introduced ourselves as “Mama” and “Baba.” Then we held her. Have you ever had joy fill your soul? If you’ve ever had children, you know what I’m talking about. Thank you Lord, neither of the two little ones (the other one is 16 months old and is missing part of her right foot) cried (though the 16 month old turned out to be quite the character…she would cry loudly when put down. Kids learn fast to manipulate!).

The rest of the day included getting a family photo for the adoption registration, getting a quick lunch, going to the adoption registration, and going shopping at a multi-purpose store (veeery interesting experience). James gets lots of looks as he carries around Kara. Me? I get spoken to in Chinese (hellooooo, don’t you know your own people?).

I know you all want to know what Kara is like (we call her Tongtong Kara for now). Well, she is pretty much the opposite of her “twin” brother. She eats anything we give her as she has not learned to be picky. We also think it’s a response to being institutionalized. We were told that the kids will eat tons the first 3-4 days if you let them. At one point she was drinking water from a bottle and was downing the thing. After halfway through the second one, I told James that I don’t think she knows when to stop. I don’t think she has an internal shut off valve (that we adults tend to ignore when we’re eating something really yummy). She’s also a dainty eater. I gave her some Cheerios and she took at least 3-4 bites out of each “O”. What will she do when she sees her brother Conan the barbarian seeing how big of a chunk he can stuff in his mouth before choking? Kara is also extremely quiet. She does not babble. We have heard her laugh (which sounds like the finest melody you’ve ever heard) and she has cried once (James scared her when she knocked over something and James let out a gasp). She is content to sit on our laps, be held, and sit on the floor playing with her shoes. Her walking is not the best, but she can toddle along (I made that a verb, don’t know if that’s legit). We also discovered she does not like being left alone. James was downstairs where we can get wireless access and I went into the bathroom. When I came out I passed by her to get something and she let out a tiny whimper before heading straight for me with arms held out. I’d like to think that I was of comfort to her because she knows I’m her mother, but I know that right now anyone would be of comfort to her. Hey, I’ll take this any day over her trying to get away from this stranger!

Sorry this post is so long. We also had technical difficulties so I am now finishing this at 5:30 am on Thursday. Our little one is still sleeping, poor baby. Quite a day for her yesterday. It’ll be one she will not remember, but one we will never forget.

(And now a note from the quiter & less verbose one of the couple)
Actually, I heard her make more noise. She made this cute cooing type of noise, particularly in seeing bright colors or most especially when seeing the babies on the diapers we were checking out. This is the advantage one gets when carrying this cute little bundle of Kara (remember, that means joy!). The disadvantage is aching arms and sweat pouring down one’s back. It is kind of funny being the one stared at, being given continual curious looks. That is normal when I’m walking around in Ranch 99 (a Vietnamese market in SJ), but the difference this time is the beaming smile I get from a lot of the people. Well, being the technical one of this couple (don’t laugh too hard Rick!), I guess I should hurry up and get done so I can get this loaded up, attempt to get videos loaded, and try to get the camera to work for Skype. Miss y’all!