China Day 6: Free Day

I didn't post anything last night, so I'll post about yesterday before we head out this morning.  It was a hard day for Hannah.  She didn't want anything to do with Mommy for most of the morning, which was really hard on me.  I am really missing the boys too, and being rejected by Hannah makes it harder.  She did warm up to me in the afternoon, and she even fed me the goldfish she was eating! I thought that was huge!  She's funny because there are certain things that only Baba can do (mainly hold her) and that Mama can do (such as put on her shoes).  She's just very particular about who is allowed to do what with her.  But she will definitely let her will be known!

We didn't have anything scheduled for the day, so we slept in (until after 9!) and then Hannah took an hour long bath.  She loves playing in the water!  After we got ready, we went to Toys R Us.  The toys and prices were very similar to back home.  Hannah loved the riding toy that was there.  It was fun hearing the Toys R Us song in Chinese while we were there!  After Toys R Us we went to lunch in the mall that the store was in.  It turned out to be a disaster.  We realized later that it was nap time, so we're sure Hannah was just tired and hungry.  She threw several screaming fits while we were there, and so Jason and I left early to head back to the hotel.  She fell asleep instantly when we returned.  After her nap, we went and walked to the West Lake.  We saw a crowd gathering, so we figured out that there was a fountain show about to begin.  While we waited for the show, they were selling bubble machines.  We bought one for Hannah and were just playing with her.  Pretty soon we noticed a crowd gathering around-they were watching us!  I haven't seen hardly any Caucasians in Hangzhou, so everywhere we go, we are stared at.  But we hadn't experienced anything quite like this!  A young girl wanted my picture with her, and then the same family gave Hannah some crackers.  People are very friendly here!  It was fun to watch the show over the lake, but partway through Hannah wanted to get down, and walked several feet away and laid down on the cement.  She was done!  We stopped by a small convenience store to buy some milk and food for dinner.  I made the mistake of putting her down in the store, and she grabbed a bag of chips.  They were now her chips, so she ended up eating almost the whole bag.  Once she has something, we can't take it away from her, so we're still learning to avoid situations where she will get something we don't want her to have.  We're used to the boys, who will take a few crackers, etc. and give the bag back to us.  Once she has a bag of anything, there is no getting it back! 

One thing that is going really well is her sleeping.  She sleeps all through the night, without any fussing.  Right now she is sleeping with us, as that's what she was used to in the foster home.  It's been working out really well, but we have a king sized bed here, so that makes it much easier. 

We just got back from brunch, and it was another disaster.  We're reluctant to go anywhere in public because it seems to always end in a huge scene.  If she doesn't get her way, she screams.  We get stared at anyway because we're two blonds with a Chinese child.  But when that child is screaming, it's even worse.  We're trying to not let it get to us, but we're definitely the center of attention wherever we go (and have always avoided such back home).  We definitely don't have a "shy" and "quiet" girl that the orphanage described.  I wonder if they ever saw her real personality. 

Thanks for your continued prayers. Please pray for us as we often feel like we're not sure how to handle her behavior. She's definitely keeping us on our toes!

Pictures:

• Skyping with brothers and Grandma
• Riding the train toy at Toys R Us
• In front of West Lake
• In front of an ornate boat on West Lake
• Watching the fountain performance
  

China Day 5: Finalizing Adoption & Trip to Taizhou

It's been an incredibly emotional and exhausting day.  This morning we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize the adoption.  The official there read a statement declaring us Liu Xia's parents and handed us the official adoption certificate and a stuffed panda for Hannah.  She's officially ours forever! 

After finalizing the adoption, we started the long drive to Taizhou, where Hannah is from.  It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Hangzhou.  Hannah fell asleep right when we left and slept most of the way there.  The drive to Taizhou was beautiful, and I've included pictures of the scenery.  When we got to Taizhou, we had to apply for Hannah's passport.  Our guide was able to convince them to expedite it so we could get it by Friday instead of the September date that it would normally take to get the passport.  The director and associate director were at the passport agency, and Hannah again would not go to them.  We also found out while we were there that we would not be able to visit the orphanage after all.  Yesterday the director agreed to let us come, but today she said we were not allowed.  She said it was against the rules, and so we wouldn't be able to go.  I was very emotional over this news, as we were fully expecting to be able to go.  Other families who have adopted children from the orphanage before us under a different director were allowed to visit the orphanage. We are the first ones to adopt under the new director, so that's why things are different for us.  She did take down our email address and promised to send us pictures of the orphanage.

After leaving the passport agency, we went to Hannah's finding spot.  I am grateful that we were able to see where she was found, but it was an incredibly emotional stop.  We took pictures and collected a rock from the ground nearby.  Since this is a sensitive part of Hannah's past, we are not going to share pictures here of it. 

Our next stop was to meet the foster family at a tea room.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we were ushered into a private room.  There was a large TV camera there videotaping our entrance.  The foster dad works is the head of the Civil Affairs Office, and he and his wife fostered Hannah to set an example to the people to help orphans.  He told us that he was keeping a blog detailing their times with Hannah, and so we think the camera was there to document this part of the story for people who are following the blog.  The foster family treated us to a huge dinner, and they kept bringing out more and more food.  Hannah's favorite was the shrimp, which she tried to eat whole-eyes and all!  Hannah was very attached to the foster family, and it was another very difficult emotional experience for us all.  They gave us a CD with many pictures of there times with Hannah, along with the journal that they kept (in Chinese).  They also gave us several gifts including a jade bracelet and necklace for Hannah and a traditional outfit and silk dress for her as well.  It is obvious that they loved her very much. 

Pictures:
Official telling us that Hannah is ours!
Family picture with adoption certificate
Scenic pictures on way to Taizhou (3)
Roadside stand in Taizhou (there were many of these along the road when we got into the city)
Picture with foster parents
Foster parents and Director Lin and Director Chen

China Day 4: West Lake, Playing, First Bath, Meeting Elijah & Isaiah

We are amazed at how well Hannah is doing!  She slept for 3 hours this afternoon, and then we went to get a family picture taken for the adoption.  After that we walked across the street to the West Lake and took a few pictures.  The West Lake is so beautiful!  After that we went out to eat with our guide and the other family in our group.  Hannah was squealing all through dinner, and then when we returned to the hotel, she had so much fun going up the steps and running around, playing with us.  She is such a happy girl!  We went back to the room and she had her first bath.  She wasn't sure of it at first, but slowly warmed up to going in to the tub to play with the stacking cups.  We don't know if she's ever had a bath in a tub like this, so we slowly introduced her to it slowly.  She had fun so much fun splashing Mommy and playing with the cups.  After an hour of playing, we convinced her to come out.  Then we Skyped the boys, and Hannah got to see her two geh gehs (big brothers) for the first time.  Elijah said she is very pretty but doesn't talk much!  She was really tired when we were on the phone, so she just stared at the screen.  We knew she was tired because she's been babbling and squealing all day, and has only been quiet when we are walking around outside.  She is taking everything in and is loving all of the attention she is getting from Mama and Baba.  She doesn't want either of us out of her sight. She still prefers Daddy to hold her most of the time, but wants Mommy with her as well.  We are so incredibly blessed!

Attached pictures:
Hannah & Daddy at West Lake
Boat on West Lake
Eating noodles at dinner
Playing in the lobby at the hotel (several of these)
First bath
Meeting Elijah & Isaiah

China Day 4: 1st Visit to Civil Affairs & SMILES!!

Hannah slept through her first night with us, and we even had to wake her up at 7:30!  We went down to breakfast, and she was pointing to food and showing Baba what she wanted to eat.  We tried to feed her, but she insisted on doing it herself.  Her favorite food was the fried noodles, and hopefully her big brothers will learn from her how to lean over when they eat!  She was so cute leaning over her plate slurping up the noodles!  After breakfast we went to the Civil Affairs Office, where three other families were meeting their children for the first time.  It was so neat to see the other families with their new babies and see another dad in our group meet his 8 year old son.  While we were there, Jason decided to put Hannah in my lap.  Every other time he's tried to give her to me she screams and refuses.  But, this time, she was totally okay with it!!!  I couldn't believe it!  Then by the time we left the office, Hannah was going back and forth from Jason to me happy as can be.  She wanted Mommy to put on her shoes, let me change her diaper, etc.  When she's tired she wants Daddy to hold her.  While we were in the Civil Affairs Office (for 2.5 hours), we witnessed many parts of Hannah's personality.  She gave us smiles, lots of screams (both happy and mad), and even some laughs!  The director of the orphanage was there, but Hannah wouldn't go to her.  She seems to know that we are her parents, and she has Daddy wrapped around her little finger already.  She's been doing a lot of baby babble, but we've heard her say "uh-oh" several times, and she definitely says some words in Chinese beyond the baby talk.  We are feeling incredibly blessed and thank you so much for praying because we're already seeing a huge change as her personality is coming out and she is warming up to us so quickly.

We'll be visiting her foster family tomorrow.  I'm hoping it doesn't set her back to square one because she was definitely attached to her foster family.  Please pray that this visit would not confused her, and that she will know that Jason and I are her forever family.  Hopefully we'll have time to visit her finding spot and orphanage as well.  Thank you for all of the comments and emails.  We feel so loved and supported!

Here's what the attached pictures are of:

Hannah & Daddy at breakfast
Hannah loves the noodles!
Making the paperwork official with a red thumbprint seal of approval
Hannah's handprint approval
Daddy's thumbprint approval
Hannah is sitting on Mommy's lap!!
Looking at a book with Mommy
A smile!
Playing with Daddy

China Day 3: Getting Hannah Part 3 (Video)

Here are a few short videos from last night. Enjoy (we sure did)!

China Day 3: Getting Hannah Part 2

I just went over Jason's blog post, and he did a great job detailing how the night went.  He wrote it last night, but for some reason it didn't post, so sorry for those of you who have been on the edge of your seats waiting!  It's now early morning (5 AM), and Jason and I are both wide awake, but our little princess is still sound asleep.  We haven't heard a single sound from her all night long.  She is a heavy sleeper!  We changed her clothes last night and carried her around, and she didn't wake up at all.  I wanted to post this picture because it shows her beautiful long hair.  She is so beautiful!  Please pray for her as she is going through a time of grieving as she transitions into our family.  And please pray for me as well.  It was very hard last night to not be able to hold her after so many years of waiting.  I knew that it was very likely she would only bond to one of us, but it is still heartbreaking.  They told us she prefers men to hold her, so it's natural that she would bond to Jason at first. 

Also, we found out last night that the foster mom has one request-that she would love to meet us.  It's very rare to ever meet a foster family, so we were very surprised to hear this.  So, we'll be meeting the foster family on Wednesday when we go to Taizhou.  It sounds like she was so well loved by this family, and I am happy I will get to thank her in person for the love she showed to our daughter.  Hannah went to their house on the weekends starting in January, and she's very strongly attached to the family, crying when she would have to return to the orphanage each week.

China Day 3: We get HANNAH!

Okay, Jason here.  Much to share and little time to do it.  We got our little girl, tonight!  We arrived at the airport around 5PM, then transferred to the hotel around 6PM.  We had all of our stuff unloaded into our room within an hour (in spite of three calls to housekeeping - one for a crib, one because the power went out when a bulb in the room blew, and one asking them to clear-out the mini bar -- I'm sure they were sick of hearing from us!).  Then at 7PM we waited anxiously for the next hour to roll around when our daughter was scheduled to arrive in our hotel room.  I'm not sure if the photos will show up in the right order or not, but here are some captions to go along with the order of the photos describing what happened next.

• Before 8PM, Angie and I were both so anxiously awaiting Hannah's arrival.  Angie likened it to our wedding day -- we knew the other party was ever so nearby, but we couldn't see them until the appropriate time.  That was the longest hour of my life.
• Shortly after 8PM, we get the call that they are on their way.  A minute or two later, the orphanage director, assistant director, car driver, and our translator walk Hannah up to the door to our hotel room.
• Bring out the Cheerios!  Unfortunately, she didn't seem to care for them.
  
• Next up, they Chinese ladies gave us a carton of milk to offer Hannah.  She licked that right up and drank the whole carton dry.
• Time to try something other than food... Daddy goes for the "play with tower blocks" strategy, which seemed to mostly work, though she wouldn't take the cup from my hands and later started throwing the cups.  That said, I think this was the tipping point for her, which foreshadows the fact that she was mostly a "Daddy's Girl" tonight...
• We were so grateful to learn that our photo album did arrive and that the caretakers had been reading it to her.  Apparently, she even would kiss the photo of us on the way over.  We brought out the album to help make the connection that we were the same people the caretakers had been talking to her about.
• Hannah goes back to stacking cups, this time completing the tower.  She very much prefers to play independently, in spite of my offers to help her finish the tower.
• The caretakers leave once it seems that things are going mostly well (about 15-20 minutes after they arrive).  Liu Xia (as they call her -- by her full name), is rather upset and cries fiercely (which, though very painful for us in the moment, is a good sign long-term).  To help distract her, mommy whips out the bubbles, a sure hit with kids back home and apparently no different here in China.
• Eventually Hannah starts reaching for the bubbles.
• The first smile we've seen on her face, ever!  Also probably the last one of the evening.
• Throughout the rest of the evening, Hannah would occasionally notice the door and make the connection that her caretakers have left her via that door and start crying, fiercely.  She actually came to my arms to let me hold her (talk about melting my heart!), and I was able to distract her by showing her the reflection in the window of the two of us.  I point to her and say "Xiao Xia" (the nickname they also call her by and "Ba Ba" (Daddy in Chinese) when pointing to my reflection.  Angie and I both hear her say "Ba" at one point, so we think she's making the connection, herself.
• After an hour or so of toggling between crying and being distracted, she finally falls asleep and Mommy gets her (sadly) first chance to really hold Hannah.
• Hannah arrived in a cute pink dotted dress with Hello Kitty pigtail holders (I'm sure Angie will correct me on their proper terminology--I have a lot to learn about being a daddy to a girl!).  She's a big girl!  After she had fallen asleep, we weighed her to be 27 points.
• Then, of course, we had to share Hannah with our boys via Skype, even if she was asleep!
• Mommy with her precious little girl--Angie's dream come true after so many years.

Tomorrow: the originally scheduled meeting with the CCAA (we just got her 12 hours earlier, but still need to do the paperwork in the morning).  Then more to come after that.  What a whirlwind of a day!