We have finally arrived in China. We left Columbus OH around noon, picked up a connecting flight in Detroit, a short layover in Tokyo, and finally landed in Guangzhou around 10:30 pm Saturday night. Thank goodness all of our flights were on time and there was no lost luggage.
We stayed at a new hotel at the Guangzhou Airport. It was very nice. We were able to sleep in the next morning, which was wonderful. Our flight didn’t leave until 2pm so we were able to just relax, have a late breakfast, and rest before heading out again. The hotel is connected to the airport so all we had to do was walk to get there.
We checked in and thank goodness we were not charged any over-weight fees. For those of you who have traveled in-country in China, they have very strict luggage weight restrictions. We knew we were over on all of our luggage, but for whatever reason they didn’t charge us.
Our flight was on time so at 2pm we were in the air flying to Amelia’s home city, Fuzhou. The flight was short, only about 1 hr. We met our guide, Jessie, and off we went. As soon as we got in the car Jessie told us that our baby was waiting on us at the hotel. Our hotel was about an hour away and Jessie kept getting phone calls from the people waiting on us wanting to know when we were getting there. We were 1 of 2 families left for the day to receive their child and they were anxious to get finished.
Once we arrived at the hotel we quickly checked in, went up to our room. I quickly packed up the gift for Amelia’s foster family and we literally ran down the hall to the conference room where everyone was waiting. When we entered the room it was filled with people. Amelia was there waiting on us in her foster father’s arms. As soon as she saw us she cuddled up to his chest. She definitely knew something big was getting ready to take place.
This was our third adoption from China and every gotcha moment has been different, but this one will definitely have to take the grand prize. We were in a conference room and there was a local gov’t official who had a desk set up in the back corner. Then they had a photographer there who was set up. He would take the pictures as the baby was being received by their families, he took many candid pictures of “the moment”, and then he would take the baby’s passport picture, as well as the photo that will be used for our official adoption certificate. It was very nice.
Amelia’s foster father held her as she was cuddling against him. I finally decided to reach my arms out for her and she agreed to come to me. I could feel her little heart pounding as I began to hold her. She was so afraid, I felt so bad for her. You could just see the fear in her eyes. Everything was fine for a few minutes until the photographer asked us to stand together to take a picture w/the foster father. That’s when everything broke loose. Amelia wanted to go back to him and when she realized that it wasn’t going to happen, she began to cry. She started crying and continued to cry throughout all of the paperwork. Her foster father did a quick exit when she wasn’t looking. I know this moment was as hard on him as it was for everyone else. We are so thankful that we were able to meet him and to have him present for this hand off. He told her as she was crying that they had talked about this moment for a long time and this was the way that it has to be. He cried, I cried, she cried…..even Amber was crying. It was an extremely emotional moment for everyone.
So we finished up the paperwork and was finally able to get Amelia settled in so we could get our pictures taken for our official documents. After this we went up to our room. Jessie had to call down to get a crib for us, so once it arrived and we were settled in she left. It wasn’t 5 minutes later and the crying started again and so we sat in the chair with me holding Amelia as she cried for a solid 2 hours straight. She refused to look at me, she would just bury her face in my chest and cry. I tried to get her to eat, but she refused, I tried to give her a bath, but she refused, I even tried to get some of her toys out, but she was definitely not in the mood to play.
So after about 2 hours I changed her diaper, put her PJ’s on, and she pointed to the crib. She I laid her down in her crib and she buried her face in her pillow. She laid there for about 20 minutes and then finally she fell asleep. I thought for sure we were in for a very long night, but she slept sound all night long without a single peep.
Day 2
--
I woke up at about 4am this morning. I checked on Amelia and she was still sound asleep. So I crawled back in bed and laid there wondering what the day was going to bring. I just knew for certain that when she woke up and saw us that it was going to be terror all over again. So I started praying for her. I sent out an email to our family and friends last night to let them know that Amelia was having a very difficult time and to please be praying for her. It was so comforting to know that we have had so much support from everyone. I knew that people were praying right along with me. Eventually I fell back to sleep until our wake up call at 7am.
Amber and I were able to get ready when we heard this little voice coming from the crib. It was baby jabber……Miss Amelia had awakened. I looked over and there she was with her little face peeking over top of the crib. I said Good Morning Miss Amelia and she quickly laid back down—too cute. So I went over and picked her up, fully expecting her to start crying, but it never happened. I got her diaper changed and put her in a little sundress. She still didn’t say a word; she only looked at me with those big brown eyes. I went in the bathroom to finish getting ready and I asked Amber to try and do her hair—which I never dreamed would happen considering she wouldn’t even look at Amber last night.
About 15 minutes later I come out of the bathroom and I could hear this little giggling sound……there was Amelia sitting on the bed with Amber playing with all of her hair bows. Amelia’s hair was fixed, she had a little bow in it, and she and Amber were playing and laughing together. I was shocked!! I could not believe my eyes, I would have never dreamed that this baby who was so sad the night before would be smiling and laughing the next morning. So I ran to get my camera and starting taking pictures of Amelia’s first smiles with us. I was SO thankful that she was feeling better and was no longer feeling so miserable.
We headed down to breakfast where Amelia made up for the night before of having no supper. She had 2 plates full of food and finished up with a big glass of OJ.
After breakfast we headed out for all of our government appointments. Amelia was a real trooper through it all. She sat still on our lap during all the waiting and interviews, and in the end, she officially became Amelia Xiaofang Jean Bennett!
We went back to our hotel and Amelia took a long nap. Afterwards we ordered room service and she ate all of her food. I decided that it was time to try for the bath. So we ran the bathwater and in she went. I was able to wash her hair and get her bathed without a single tear—thank goodness! Amber played with her in the tub for a while and now they are playing some more as I post.
It’s feels like we’ve been here for a week now. So much has happened in the 48 hours that we’ve been in China. I am so thankful that Amelia has settled down and is finally starting to show us her cute little personality. She is now toddling all around the room and is slowing becoming less and less afraid of her surroundings.
While this has been a very tough adjustment on Amelia, it is only proof that she has been loved and cared for by her wonderful foster family. Please continue to pray for her as she adjusts to her new life and her new family.
