Today is the day that we first met Kelley. We didn't sleep much last night and were up early this morning for breakfast. We had time to Skype with Kimmy and then still had 2 more hours to spare. We ventured out of the hotel and up and down the side street. I wish I would have brought my camera to share the scene. We stopped at 7-11 and got some goodies for Huang and some waters for us. Then we traveled up and down the street. The locals had their produce out for sale & were sweeping the sidewalk in front of their stand. We saw huge tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchinis & other veggies (that I don't eat). There was lots of bags of nuts & spices, even a shop with live fish & crabs and another with tables and tables of fresh cut meat. Everything smelled delicious! It was very busy with people walking and riding their bikes or scooters. We saw one scooter that had 3 miniature eskimo dogs lined up in wait while the owner was shopping. We laughed and thought Holly could live here! A few vendors were frying some kind of batter cakes and selling them. There was also a group of men playing a large board game. I think we were the only Americans on the street this morning, but nobody gave us a second look.
We made our way back to the hotel and met Anna at 9:30. She double checked our paperwork and took us (with Mr. Lee driving) to the Civil Affairs office about 20 minutes away. We were there early or maybe Huang was late. We waited about 15 minutes and then she came in. As soon as they pushed her towards us the tears came...in buckets. The Chinese ladies in the office did their best to quiet her, while Anna shared some of her stories & keepsakes that the foster family sent with her. After the crying stopped we went downstairs and took a family picture. She was quiet on the way back to the hotel & not interested in the doll and bear that we brought. Anna followed us up to our room where I completed some more paperwork. She gave us some suggestions and taught us a few words...thirsty, hungry, potty (which we used). After Anna left the tears came again...in buckets...for probably an hour. Then they subsided to every other minute for an hour. Then we made it for probably an hour or two with no tears and even some laughter. She watched some tv and colored with Dan. We ventured out of our room and walked the hallways and around the lobby downstairs. She did pretty good. We were just past lunch time and still too early for dinner, so nothing to eat at the restaurant. We went back upstairs and she told us that she had to potty & was thirsty. Her foster family sent her with a backpack that was filled with goodies, milk and water. She drank 2 small bottles of milk, almost a whole bottle of water and munched on different goodies.
About 30 minutes before the restaurant opened for dinner, the tears started again for about 90 minutes. She was screaming for her Na-Na or Nye-Nye; I couldn't tell with all of the tears. We told her that Na-Na loves her and misses her too. We also love her and will try our best to make her happy forever & ever. I ordered room service (first time ever)! The tears stopped right after I ordered, but we weren't sure she was ready to face a room full of people. Maybe we weren't. Dan and I ate 1/2 our sandwiches and she ate 1/4 of her noodles. She likes French fries! Halfway thru dinner she started laying down...a good indication that she was tired. Around 7:30 we all changed into pajamas and she jumped right into bed to snuggle with us. She was out like a light! The day ended on a good note. The bonding process has already begun as she was clinging to both of us for comfort and holding hands with us even thru the tears.
The foster family sent some family pictures taken last week of her younger brother who is in foster care and an older biological sister. Huang has been raised primarily by her grandmother and plays well with her siblings. She likes to be outdoors with her grandparents...that will work well at our house. The younger one is her best friend. Her grandfather is a farmer in a local village outside of Taiyuan. I didn't get much information about her mother or father. She is a good eater...likes rice, noodles, vegetables and is not picky. She had a dog at her house and has probably been around village cats. She is in kindergarten already and knows Chinese letters, numbers and animals. She had another surgery on her hand in June; that is why the index & second finger are now separated. It has healed nicely, but is still misshapen and smaller...about half the size. Surprisingly she is right handed. Everything she did was with her right hand, except coloring. Even then she tried to color with her right hand, but would switch back and forth with her left. She is very smart, sweet & happy, according to her foster family. No sign of the word "stubborn". The Orphanage translator and our guide were very helpful in orchestrating the process today. We have an email address to send updates on Huang as she gets older that they will be able to share with her foster family. I think we were a little overwhelmed four years ago with Kimmy, because parenting was brand new to us. Now we know what to expect, but it is still hard to see this little girl so sad and knowing that we are taking her away from all that she knows. Anna told us that it is worth it because she will have a good life in America. I hope she learns to love us and Kimmy as her new family. Tomorrow we head back to the Civil Affairs office in the morning to make it official.
Dixie and Holly are doing well at All About Dogs in Bainbridge and the cat is healing nicely after his ear surgery. Holly has settled in and is getting along splendidly with their staff...I think that means she hasn't bit anybody yet...at least not hard. They love Dixie, as I knew they would. Mr Kitty enjoys his time out of the cage and tried to escape from my parent's house.
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