It's official! Part 1

Shiloh loves her milk!

The night went well. She was rocked to sleep, but true to what the documents said, she slept hard like a champ! Travis and Julie had to wake her up to get to breakfast and the bus on time!

 Walking slow. For a 2 1/2 year old her walking is delayed, but she has been doing fine. They told us she can not run or jump, which is fine, her papa can't do that either as of late.

 She is definitely bonding, can you tell?

 Next stop: back to the civilian affairs office to sign all the paperwork that makes this official.

 Same alley way, same cool building to walk by.

The small elevators made for a bottleneck right at the start of the work day. Push and shove my friends. Actually none of that went on, because Meeko scooted us off to the side to wait and then we got on in due time. 

 While waiting, Shiloh saw another little girl do this:

And then she did the exact same thing: pick me up papa!

Okay, charmer!

Julie is rechecking all the passport info.

First stop: adoption interview. They asked about three questions, one of which was:

do you promise not to abuse or abandon this child.

 

 yeah! we passed.

My papa is a fruitcake!

Second stop: sign off after the notary interview. 

I was allowed to go in and take pics for this one. This ladies English pronunciations were strained and a little hard to understand, not to mention that she asked quite a few more questions than in the other interview, like almost two pages worth.

 One question we did not get the even the second time she asked was 'are you healthy?'

Other questions were: what is your income? how many other children do you have? why do you want to adopt from China? What is your impression of her?

 And then they both sign it.

Shiloh actually looked at me and grinned for this picture. Hilarious.

Nothing is official in China without this read seal! It is finished.

Celebrating with a Chinese meal, fried rice and sweet and sour pork. She ate 2 and half bowls of this. 

Later at nap time Julie said she pulled it all out of her cheeks where she was keeping it stored. She doesn't quite chew and swallow her food quickly. She was doing this even with water on day 1, it would fill up her cheeks and just sit there. But we have been very thankful that she has eaten well, and slept well, what simple, but truly amazing blessings.

Gotcha day, part 3: The first few hours

Julie and I really got a kick out of some of the answers to our questions:

What comforts her when she is sad? 

something sweet, candy

What is her favorite thing to play with?

Fruit Ninja on the iphone or 'talking friends' (What? Really?!)

Seriously, is there a toy?

she does love dolls (whew, good)

Food?

She likes soft food, not real hard stuff, she does not like sour food.

(and later she said, 'Oh, yes, she really loves french fries, and lots of ketchup, I took her to KFC and she loved the ketchup', I replied that she was already American, and we laughed)

potty trained?

no, she doesn't like to go, but if you take her and wait a minute she can.

Sleeping?

she usually likes someone with her to go to sleep. Interesting. And she sucks her thumb (are you sure she is not a Coker?)

There was a ton more, but by the end Julie said: 'so basically she likes junk food and playing on the ipad', so unexpected.

And so....first moments on the ipad.

 Getting to know her environment...

I mean. Just cuteness.

Go Aunt Lolo, bringing the blocks! This was great bonding time, she got down to play and even started smiling some. This is what we were hoping for, some smiles. And boy were those small grins beautiful. I had relaxed on the picture taking, and didn't capture the best, in-the-moment smiles, but they were there!

 The blocks would fall, and if she couldn't get it on right, she would grab Travis' hand to do it. We were all amazed at what a quick learner she is! They told us that she could mimic words really well. The workers were confident that if we spoke English to her she would be able to repeat the sounds, even though her first language is Cantonese (not Mandarin, bummer).

There's that fun grin!

And of course a toy cell-phone is a must. She started talking on it right away! It said 'hello' and she said 'hello' right back. I didn't catch it, I didn't believe it, I thought it was the phone. But Travis and Julie were amazed, and then she did it again. 

I went out to get milk (they say she loves milk!) and dinner, and Julie went to another 'paper party' (arranging paperwork for tomorrow's events). By the time we both got back, Travis said Shiloh had repeated 'papa', 'mama', and so many other words from a picture book. She is impressing us, and proving those workers right, she will mimic anything. 

She absolutely did not like getting her jacket taken off, or her shoes, or the bath. But she eventually calmed and knew things were still okay!

Shiloh's first dinner as a Williams' kid! Chinese take out. Actually it was 'Muslim food' take out. That is really what the sign said, I am not making it up. Shiloh ate a few noodles and a little bit of the dumplings but not much. She did drink her milk and eat some cracker/cookies we had gotten. 

These first few hours back at the hotel she really did start to warm up. We have no idea what the night will hold, but so far things seem to be going pretty well (I have no idea Travis and Julie's thoughts, I am sure there are many anxieties still weighing and will be for awhile, but those first few fears and 'what ifs' have given way to their God-given gifting as incredible parents, I still stand in awe).

 

 I told Travis at dinner: 'Shiloh has got some personality'. He laughed and said I know! 

She has some cute spunk to her already creeping out of those big shy eyes. She knows what she wants and how to get it, she is such a quick learner, she hates a mess, anytime water or milk was on her face or even on the table she motioned to it, and Travis would clean it up.

 Baby Shiloh. Not a baby, a sweet, precious, little girl. She now has a real home, her own home, her own family, a real mommy and daddy, and genuine sacrificial love infused into her life. The gospel lived out. Adoption.

Gotcha day part 2: We really Gotcha!

 Finally the time arrived. Julie and I thought we saw her come through the room and back to the 'play room' but we were not sure. And then it all happened so fast. I actually captured the first moments all on video, three of which I really want to share, but I am having trouble uploading them at the moment. 

After the first 5 minutes on and off of video I started clicking away with the camera. 

The worker set her down on the floor and Travis and Julie approached with tear filled smiles. Shiloh hesitated (of course), and Travis just picked her up and stepped back. She did not cry, she did not kick or scream, she did not bite or yell (that is not to say she won't do that later). Of course, she did not really know what was going on, but she didn't panic, she just wondered, perhaps. 

Travis instinctively distracted her, because I do think she was about to cry. I thought every thing he did was so wise, whether he had planned it or not. He held her and quickly walked her around the room pointing out different things, toys, kids, etc. She was just taking it all in. She didn't have time to feel the separation so much from the worker who brought her.

She let both Travis and Julie hold her with no problems. They needed to get a foot print, so they removed her shoe to do that, and still she was not too rattled. Uneasy probably, but not too unsettled. Snacks were quickly offered and she really liked the apple sauce and puffs. I didn't see it, but Travis said she grabbed two big handfuls of puffs and ate away. The room was still chaotic and noisy so Travis took her behind a partition with her snacks, and she remained calm. What a grace gift, the calmness in that moment, and baby Shiloh herself! A precious gift. Into a home filled with gospel love. Amazing. 

Earlier in the day, before we left, Travis read Ephesians 1 and we prayed. Faith not fear, he prayed, and what a theme, it permeated the day. We rested in that, and I prayed that for Shiloh too, calmness, not fear, a hope and joy. God gave us glimpses, as you will see.

Precious pictures...

 Parents to baby number 5! Congratulations Travis and Julie!

These are the two ladies that brought Shiloh to the office. The one on the right was with her almost every day for the past year. And while it was Meeko's job to do the translating, I just couldn't help but start talking away and asking all the questions we had. I asked Julie first if she wanted me to or to wait and she  was fine with this, and I think it really helped it be less formal. Though this is a Cantonese speaking province, both of these ladies spoke very clear Mandarin and even a little English. She started a little in English until I started with Chinese. 

Julie and I both quickly grew to really love these ladies. They seemed to really genuinely love Shiloh and demonstrated that she was well taken care of, at least for the year they have known her. You see, Shiloh is now 2 1/2 years old. At around 11 months she was taken to a rehabilitation center for physical therapy because she could not crawl or walk. We knew all of this from the paperwork. 

What we didn't know was that she had been living at this center for the past year! She saw immediate improvements from her time there and can now walk really fast!  She has seen improvements in every area and now, according to them, mentally is pretty standard. Of course it is hard to know everything, which is what makes the adoption journey one of complete and utter trust in God!

I kept asking about the center and she quickly got out her phone and texted me the name and told me I could look it up online. She was so helpful!

Julie and I exhausted our list of questions and these ladies were just incredible and patient, and loving, and they asked us if we would take their email and email them pictures of Shiloh as she grows up! I was very thankful for Ms. Li, and Ms. Huang today! An unexpected blessing.

 Shiloh didn't pull away from Travis or Julie. And things just got better as the evening progressed. Not cry-free or anything, but good bonding and lots of love poured out.

 

Gotcha Day part 1: prelim stuff

(Guest blogger: Lorraine. This is the Williams' story. So, while I may offer some anecdotes and sidebars, I will let Julie detail her perspective of the events and all the emotions involved later.)

The day started with a lunch time meeting to get all the paperwork in order! There were with five other families and one translator/worker helping them through this whole process. People talk about adoption as being 'paper pregnant', and that is certainly the case. I caught the end of the meeting, where Meeko (a phonetic spelling, I have no idea the proper way to spell it), the translator, started going family by family and telling each about certain habits of their new child. What they eat for breakfast, are they potty-trained, that kind of thing. When they got to Shiloh (Zhengyi), it was a sheet of paper with a simple schedule of times of when she does stuff. No details at all, just: breakfast 8 a.m., classes 9-11, that kind of thing. All of those 'detail' questions would have to be asked of whatever nanny brought her to the office where they would get her. 

 The emotions and nerves were pretty high, but they were like that for everyone. It was eager expectation with subtle fears all mixed in and they were openly discussed. This was comforting I think for everyone involved, going it alone would have been hard.

 Boarding the bus, with gifts in hand for the orphanage and workers.

 Look, Santa and and his elves climbing the hotel wall. Crazy.

 This is Meeko. While her English is not stellar, I think she did a pretty good job of helping everyone get ready and seeing it all through. She was very busy.

 We got off the bus and walked down a very interesting alley. It was pretty actually and this building stood out because of the dark brick and nice windows.

Then we made it up the small elevator to the 'civilian affairs office'. This is where they bring all the children being adopted and this is where you have your 'Gotcha' moment. You can arrange to go to the orphanage if you want but that would be on a different day.

 Meeko had previously explained that a lot of waiting may be involved. There would be more than just these five families (she later told us that 30 families adopted kids that day), and the children might not be there yet, and then you have to do certain paper work, and then one by one she would translate any questions for the parents to the nanny/worker who had been taking care of the child.

When we entered this room, indeed many families were right there having their 'Gotcha' moments right before our eyes. It was overwhelming, and loud. It definitely increased the nerve level as you watched all these kids of all ages joining families. There were families from Spain, and some from other parts of Europe, and some Asian families adopting as well, but mainly Americans.

Travis had already talked about the idea of this not being a private family moment, but this was a little crazy.
Next it was time for another paperwork check.

Julie, holding their papers and waiting.

 This is the back room where the kids wait. The worker then brings the child out to meet the parents. But there is no back way in there, so if the child has not arrived you could possibly see your child walk through the crowded room back to this 'curtain' room and then get to meet them.

 More forms, corrections, etc.
Out of the five families with Travis and Julie, Shiloh was coming from the closest orphanage. When their group arrived, four kids were already there, and Shiloh was not one of them. We watched as each of their new friends started having their 'Gotcha' moments. It was quite incredible. Also we each grabbed families' cameras and helped take lots of photos. They really appreciated this, that way each parent could really be in the moment, and it got captured too. They didn't have their own paparazzi (as I called myself) like the Williams. One dad was there getting his daughter alone, his wife was home with their other kids (five I think!), so he was very thankful for the photo help.

But still we waited. It seemed like forever (I am sure it did for Trav and Jules), the room was hot. And we waited.

GuangZhou Day 1

December 9th, 2012

Guest blogger, Lorraine here. Julie and I will probably go back and forth on this. 

We are excited. It is 11 a.m. local time getting gifts prepped and hearts settled (yeah right!)

Here are some pics from the Travis and Julie's first day in GuangZhou:

The hotel is beautiful and all decked out for Christmas, including Christmas music.

Julie enjoys noodles for lunch!

 View from the room

 This waterfall is part of the hotel.

A decent nights' sleep and wide-eyed for breakfast. 

We made it!

We arrived in Guangzhou Sunday morning and are staying at the Garden Hotel. We had a good first day of walking around the city a little, checking out some of the shops and looking at all the restaurants to see where we will eat. MY sister Lorraine arrived yesterday as well and is amazing. She will be our personal photographer until she leaves on Thursday. We will go to our first meeting today at noon, and then at 2:00 we will go to meet Shiloh, talk to the orphanage worker who will bring her and then take her back with us, forever!! This city is where all adoptive families come through for their consulate appointment on the way out of the country, we have seen so many adoptive families with their little ones in our hotel, it is so amazing to see!! Please keep us in your prayers, hopefully we will post some pictures of our events later today!

We are headed to China

After two long years of paperwork, notarized documents, authenticated documents, amendments, updates, changes in policies..etc, we are leaving on Friday for China! Yes this Friday!! We got our travel approval last friday and had confirmed on monday that they wanted us in China on the 9th, so needless to say this week has been filled with lots of unexpected things. But all of which we are so thankful and praise God for. So we will leave on Friday the 9th, and return on Thursday the 20th, Lord willing! Please pray for us as we travel, as we meet our daughter on the 10th and then have different appointments almost everyday with government officials, consulate, and doctors. Pray for precious Shiloh who will be growing through so much, may we bond quickly, and learn to love each other quickly. We will try to keep you updated from China and look forward with excitement to meet our precious daughter. Thanks for all those out there who have labored this journey with us, its only just begun!!