Monday, August 23, 2010

Gotcha Day or Forever Family Day....

Hello All! Well, the day has finally arrived. We went to the local Civil Affairs office where they were going to bring Lu Chen Jie to us. We arrived before she did, and here are some photos of the room we were in.The third pic has our interpreter/adoption facilitator Erin in the photo. She is very nice and her English is perfect. She met us at the airport on Sunday night, even though it was very late at night, with a driver.

When Lu Chen Jie arrived, she was wearing the same dress that I have seen her in many times from the some of the pictures that I have of her. She also was very quiet, stoic and scared. A couple of times her eyes filled with tears from fear, but she never boo-hooed cried. That is when I was saying bu ku, "don't cry." She would look straight ahead and not respond. This behavior was completely expected, and I cannot imagine how much courage it took for her to be there.

Here are some pics of right after the introduction while we were in the van on the way back to the hotel. You can see the deer in the headlights look on her face.Happily, and surprisingly, this did not last very long. Erin came back to the suite with us, and talked to her occasionally. We just let her hang out and get used to everything. At one point, she needed to use the toilet and Erin took her back. On the way there, Erin pointed out the clothes that I had brought for her, which were folded on a stand. Once she saw all of the pink clothes everything changed!

Erin ran back saying her personality has completely transformed, and then Jie Jie came to get me and bring me to her clothes. She wanted to change her clothes into her new clothes. This was also something unexpected. Many children coming from an orphanage situation do not necessarily want to take off their clothes right away. It helps them to feel secure to keep them. I have read numerous stories where the children even want to sleep in their clothes and wear them for days. This was not going to be the case for Jie Jie.

I had also brought a little purse with Disney Fairies on them, and she won't go anywhere without it. She is also very determined to have her hair done. I had brought new fussy flower pony tail holders and they had to go on as well. To say this child is a "girly-girl" would be an understatement.

You can see the transformation in the next series of photos. These are when we went to lunch at a noodle restaurant. The first one is a family pic.These are from the restaurant. She really enjoyed it when I fed her. Again, something great and unexpected, as sometimes it is hard to get eye contact from the child or get them to smile too soon. She is a big smilie girl, and loved it when I fed her. We get constant eye contact and engagement.There is so much to say on this day, I think I will wait to continue this day at my next posting. We have all spent the night together and have had 3 meals together so far and it is amazing how well everything is going. No more crying, no bad behavior, tons of smiles and all the kids get along well (although the boys keep talking to her in English and don't understand why she is not answering them back....)

Some people call this Gotcha Day or Forever Family Day. I think it will be the latter for us, as even though it has only been 24 hours so far, it already feels like Forever. She fits in so well and we all love her to pieces.

5 comments:

  1. So happy to hear how well your first day went! How sweet that she is engaging with you, the tears may come with time but the bottom line is your journey as a family united forever has begum. Wonderful! Wonderful! Did I mention how absolutely enchanting your daughter is?! A true beauty, obviously inside and out.

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  2. Congratulations!!!! It was only in April when we picked up our Julian in that very same room! How joyous to see you are united with your daughter! I am so happy for you!!!! We also had a wonderful Forever Family Day and loved the eye contact our little guys has too! Blessings to your family from Canada ;0)

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  3. Oh Donna! My heart is filled with joy as I read about this long awaited day for you all. What a beautiful beginning to what I hope will be a blessed lifetime together. My favorite pictures are the ones of you feeding her :) You done good Momma :)
    Hugs to all...

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  4. She is beautiful and all of you are a perfect family. I am glad everything is going well.

    I LOVE THE FAMILY PHOTO!

    Congrats to all of you.

    Love,
    Jennifer

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  5. Thank God! My prayer for you has been that Jade Rose would have some kind of cleansing after all she's had to adjust to -- great as it has been. Needed to happen and looks like she got just the right place and time and person with whom to do it. Whew!!
    Janice

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