|
8.21.2001
8.22.2001 REFERRAL! 8.23.2001 New Pictures 8.24. 2001 To Austin! 8.27.2001The Other Jin Yi Ling 8.30.2001 Care Package 8.31.2001 Update! 9.06.2001 Travel approval 9.10.2001 Poem 9.11.2001 9.12.2001 Travel booked 9.26.2001 Itinerary 10.03.2001 Departure Day 10.05.2001 Hong Kong 10.07.2001 HK Day 2 10.07.2001 Nanning 10.08.2001 GOTCHA DAY! 10.09.2001 It's official! 10.10.2001 Tourist time 10.11.2001 Green Mountain Park 10.12.2001 Market 10.13.2004 Last Day in Nanning 10.15.2001 Visa Day 10.17.2001 Last Day! 10.19.2001 We're Home! |
We have Zoe! She is absolutely perfect and wonderful and adorable! How do I find the words to describe the most incredible day of my life? After waiting through four months of paper-chasing, twelve months of waiting for a referral, and two months to travel to China, I finally got to hold Zoe! Our guide, Vicky, told us that Zoe would be at the hotel at 6 p.m., after the families from Beijing joined us. My mom and I walked around Nanning, bought the bottle and formula we were told Zoe was used to, got everything ready in our hotel room, prepared the gifts to be given to the orphanage folks, and then waited in our room to be told Zoe would arrive. Around 3 p.m., Vicky said Zoe would be earlier than we thought -- around 4 p.m.! (It seems the poor families from Beijing were stuck on the runway in Beijing because of bad weather. So we'd get our baby long before them.) What a looong hour that was! But, with a knock on the door by Vicky, the wait was over. We grabbed our gifts for the nannies and orphanage director, and our cameras, and headed for Vicky's room down the hall. I first saw Zoe in the hallway being carried in the arms of Mr. Gan, the orphanage director. She was wearing an orange and white outfit, and no socks and shoes, and my first thought was how cute and tiny her toes were! My next thought was how beautiful she was! Zoe seemed so small and so scared, staring at us with huge dark eyes. I wanted to hold her right then, but first we had to go to Vicky's room and go through some formalities first -- introductions and gift giving. Then, Mr. Gan finally handed Zoe to me. Mr. Gan also returned the things I sent in the care package -- a blanket, a photo album with pictures of Zoe's new family, a rattle, and a soft doll. I don't think Zoe was given an opportunity to play with any of the toys -- the original labels with Zoe's name and picture that I had pinned on were still on each item. He also gave me the disposable camera I had sent, with a request that they take pictures of Zoe's life in the orphanage. Another precious gift -- he had answered the list of questions I had sent in that box, telling us about Zoe's Chinese name and her life in the orphanage! It's a good thing I sent those questions, because when Mr. Gan asked if I had any questions he could answer, my mind went blank! I couldn't think of a single one! Back in our room, we put Zoe down on the bed with some toys and that's the first time Zoe cried! She wanted her mama to hold her! I was SO happy to do so! I held her, clasped to my heart, until she fell asleep. What an amazing feeling to have your trusting child fall asleep in your arms! After about 30 minutes, Zoe woke up. Her amateur mother changed her diaper for the first time -- she hated it! Then I gave Zoe her first bottle. She didn't like the bottle we bought at the Nanning department store. We tried to widen the hole in the nipple, because we'd been told that babies in China are used to having their formula flow FAST! But that didn't help. But she did great with the basic Avent bottle with the newborn nipple -- a teeny, tiny hole. Go figure! |