I cannot believe I have not posted since we arrived home from China! Adjusting to our new normal has taken a few weeks, but I feel like we are finally hitting our groove. November 8th marked one month with our girl (including our time in China), and the changes are truly unbelievable. There is so much to share...so much still to process. So, I decided to look back and share some pictures and thoughts of the highlights of the past month with our sweet Zoey. It's a great way to process and record my thoughts. So...here I go...this will come in several posts...
We got this picture just a few days before we left for China. When I saw her dressed up like a princess, my heart filled with joy. I had purposely saved all the princess dress-up clothes that Eden doesn't play with anymore "with the hope" that we would one day need it again. And boy does Zoey like to dress up. Every little girl should feel like her daddy's princess. It breaks my heart when that is missed, whether by neglect, being orphaned, divorce, etc. I am so thankful that my husband loves our girls well and showers them with affection and affirmation...and attention. He makes time to be with them and make memories with them. Daddy/daughter dates are just around the corner for he and Eden. This little princess had our heart from day one...and we are trusting God and "doing the work" to win her heart as well.
So finally it was time to travel. We were on the last row of the plane, beside a senile Chinese guy who screamed most of the flight...fun times! I took this picture out the window of the plane about 8 hours into the 15-hour flight...it's Siberia! This homeschooling mama may or may not have squealed with excitement that she could see the North Pole...until my husband gently corrected me...and burst my bubble. Oh well...he can teach geometry class...lol
The travel went more smoothly than I prepared myself for...I think Eden did better than we did :0) There were 2 other Lifeline families on our flight, both with kiddos traveling with them that were close in age to Eden, which was such a blessing. One, interestingly enough, was the Jones family that we knew from Brook Hills...who also have an adopted Eden from China. The two Edens...Eden H. and Eden L. we were directed to call them...had a blast the whole trip. When we de-planed in Hong Kong, they promptly serenaded those waiting in the customs line with "A tooty tah, a tooty tah, a tooty tah tah." After 15 hours on the plane, we just let them sing their hearts out. After a night in Hong Kong, all three families took the train to Guangzhou and checked into our awesome hotel, "The Garden."
Here's the two Edens in line to take the train in Hong Kong.
And here we are on the train...one of our last memories just the three of us. My mom was with us, too!
Here are "the Edens" and the Mattox boys in the lobby of "The Garden." And yes, those are real flowers...orchids to be exact. Gorgeous!
So Sunday was a "free day." We chose to go with the Jones family to an international church that meets at a local hotel in Guangzhou. I am SO glad we went. The kids went to a children's class, and we got to have communion with brothers and sisters from all over the world. Interestingly, they check passports at the door if you look Ch*nese, because it is illegal for locals to worship there...only non-citizens were aloud. About halfway through the service it hit me that Zoey would have been unable to attend. It's hard to wrap your mind around that truth...
Monday we did paperwork in the morning, and then it was finally time to leave for the Civil Affairs office to meet our Zoey. I was strangely calm until we started getting off the bus...then the nervousness set in. God had done it...again. It seemed like a dream...here I was, halfway around the world, about to "give birth" to a 3 1/2 year old little girl. I loved her, but I didn't know her. I was choosing to love her - not based on anything she had done, or how she loved and needed me, or because she was my flesh and blood...but simply because I wanted to love her. Every time I stop and ponder this conscious choice we made, and are making daily, I am humbled to be loved this way by my sweet Savior.
Here we are on the way...
The office...oh my goodness this is really happening...
So let me just take a minute and dispel any romantic, fairy-tale notions you may have about "Gotcha Day" (the day you meet your child). For most people in China, this happens in a room filled with other people meeting their kids...so it's chaotic, HOT, crowded, HOT, and noisy. There is no easing into it either...they just hand you the kid...or shove her out from behind a curtain in our case, backpack-laden and holding the build-a-bear we made and sent her...be still my heart. She came to us just-a grinning...clueless and smiling...going with the flow...following directions...that's our sweet Zoey. One day she is gonna learn it's ok to have an opinion about things...even tonight Gene asked her to eat and gave her a bite of something and she took it and tried to chew and swallow, as she gagged because she didn't like it...bless her heart. She was gonna eat that bite. Imagine her relief when I told her it was ok to spit it out...I almost cried. Sweet, sweet Zoey Faith.
Our first few moments together...
Breaking the ice...and all cultural barriers...with a pez dispenser.
Finally, the FOUR of us...
The ride back to the hotel...becoming a daughter is EXHAUSTING...Eden did the same thing...
Can I just be honest and say I was a little scared at first of this toddler girl? We got back to the hotel room and I just kind of looked at her, like, "What am I supposed to do with you?" Daddy had stopped at the store for survival gear like yogurt and noodles...and I was on my own with my 2 daughters...oh crud...now what? All the paperwork and interviews can never prepare you for that moment...this kid is real and I am responsible for her. I have fooled 2 governments and countless social workers into thinking that I know what I'm doing...oh crud...
In all seriousness, Zoey was easy. And if there's one thing this kid loves, it's a bath. Eden cracked us all up when we took Zoey's hair out of the pigtails and she said, "Zoey looks like a Chinese warrior!"
Ready for bed the first night...
I knew that once the government of China entrusted this little gem to us, we would never be the same. We named her Zoey because it means, "Life." And this little angel is SO FULL of LIFE! She is sweet, but knows how to stand her ground. Every day I learn something new about her and I just love it.
There is much more to share so in my next post (which won't be a month from now, I promise), I will look back on our first week with Zoey in China. So much to tell!
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