While it hasn't really "rained" other than a day or two, it has been overcast and gloomy and chilly and drizzly almost everyday here. It's finally warm, and we can see the! ( The city smog certainly hid the sky from us). I kinda feel like this is a metaphor for how we are doing. The rainy, gloomy first week is over, and now there are clear skies ahead.
Emma is so happy now. She smiles, plays, laughs, and is just a little, beautiful mess all the time. We love this girl so much. She is no longer stoic at all; she loves to wiggle and play. Her favorite thing to do right now is comb Jim's hair, then my hair, then hers and laugh as I repeat how "dada is so pretty"', " mama is so pretty," "Emma is so pretty." So simple, and she loves it. She still doesn't say much, but she has started singing little songs. She also says "Aye Eee" a lot too when referring to Jim and I ( mainly to Jim), which means Auntie. This is what they call the women who care for them in the orphanage. No, Baby, we are your parents, not your Aunties. She will get the concept soon, ha! For now, we like that she knows we care for her. While I have some great pictures from last week of
her with bows in her hair, those days are gone :( She now pulls any bow I put in her hair out, and throws it on the ground laughing. We will work on this... ;). However, my pics from the past couple of days are filled with SMILES!! I will take those over bows any day :)
She certainly still prefers Jim over me, but she doesn't really seem "scared" of me anymore. We have learned what pushes her limits with me, and Jim handles those moments. For example, when she is really tired, I make sure Jim is around. When she wakes up from a nap or from sleep at night, only Jim can calm her. We are trying to teach her that Jim and I are a team, but this is going to take awhile to sink in. She smiles at me, leans in for kisses, and even occasionally reaches for me. These moments are few, but are incredible! There are no words to say how greatful we are to the friends and family who prayed for this transition. It was truly one of the hardest weeks of our lives, but oh so worth it. SHE is worth it. I know there are still going to be tough times ahead like when we get home ( she thinks we live at the hotel), or when Jim goes back to work ( she really, really loves him), but
we can conquer those. After this week, we can handle it :) I will have my boys there to remind me of the momma I am when I feel like she doesn't care for me.. I miss those boys!
This trip has opened my eyes even more to how incredible adoption is. I am so blessed to be a part of this journey, and I hope and pray others join the adoption journey too. Now that it's the second week, we have a group of families with our guide since others are here. There is Emily, a four year old, a five year old, an eight year old, a twelve year old, and a thirteen year old all adopted in our group. Two of the families have adopted others as well ( in fact one family is adopting both the five year old girl and the eight year old boy, and have two bio children and two adopted children as well). All of these beautiful, sweet, wonderful kids now have forever families!! How amazing is that!? My heart is so full when I look around the group on our tours and see the smiles from all the children, and the parents ( and the siblings..many brought their whole families :) ) This whole trip is an experience I
will never, ever forget.
Jim and I have a rhythm here too. The area by our hotel is great, but we like to venture into the little
neighborhood area near by after dinner. They have such a sense of community here...when it's warm out, they all come out and play checkers, dominoes, or other games. They eat everything fresh, so they go to the market once a day, sometimes twice a day. There are vegetables, fish heads (yuck), huge live turtles, teas, knick knacks, clothes, and many other things for sale in shop after shop. The
kids of the people working sit in the shops, or play in the shops, while the parents work. It seems expected that you bring your child to work here if you work in a shop.... Certainly not the case at
home. Even though this little area is only a couple of blocks from the hotel (where many Americans stay), we still get stared at. I don't stare at people who look different from me at home, but they certainly do here. I'm getting used to it now. One thing I can't get used to is the traffic laws...I don't think there are any. Pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way here.... I have almost been
taken out by a car every time I cross the street. It's seriously like a game of frogger. I almost think they speed up when people cross. Gets your blood going, that's for sure ;)
Jim and I have done several ridiculous things while here, like me playing ping pong in the park with a Chinese man. Yes, he was much, much older than me. Yes, he was much, much better than me. But, I held my own. We had a few good volleys and I slammed a few points on him and got some cheers. I looked up and realized several of the people there were video taping me on their phones... Ha ha. I guess this was not a common thing for an American girl to come play ping pong with them. They just hadn't met me yet ;). Jim also went to a store where he was told they bargain. They gave him a price, and he offered a lot less. They looked at him like he was crazy and gave him the price again. After about four booths he realized they do not bargain here. Kinda like going into Macys and seeing the price tag of $40 and offering them $20. Ha ha ha! He looked like an idiot. We did find a few bargain places, but this store was not one of those.
I have to mention in the blog how happy I am that I have Jim. There is no one in the world I would
rather be on this trip with. We have laughed every day, even on days I didn't feel much like laughing. He has been my shoulder to cry on and my hand to hold. He is an amazing father, and there is no question why Emma (and the boys of course) loves him so much. Enough mush, just had to add this in. ;)
There is always more I could write, but I will stop for now. Again, I am so thankful for the prayers of our friends and family. I wake up everyday now excited to see what new thing Emily will do with me. Jim pointed out that I haven't cried in a couple of days...that's huge!! I miss my boys like crazy, but we are in the home stretch... The next couple of days are pretty full, then we head home!! Soon my family of five will all be under one roof...so excited!! Psalm 68:19 "Praise be to The Lord, to God our savior, who daily bears our burdens"
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