One Step Closer to Home!

Sorry this post is so late in the day, but we just got to our hotel in Shanghai and it is one o’clock in the morning. Our flight here was delayed. We were met at the airport in Shanghai by guides who cannot speak a lick of English. They wanted us to carry all our luggage, kids, strollers, etc. up 2 flights of stairs. It took us a while to show them that they could drive the cars around to the door on the floor where we were. Then we drove around Shanghai for an hour because they were lost and didn’t know where the hotel was. So… we are finally here. We get picked up in ten hours to head back to the airport. Needless to say, we are just a tad bit irritable.

Our guide, David, got us to all our appointments today and then got us checked in at the airport in Guangzhou, which, may I add, is a beautiful airport. We are really missing David tonight here in Shanghai and appreciating him all the more.

After breakfast this morning, we took our red couch photos. It’s tradition - everyone takes photos of their kids on the red couch at the White Swan before heading home.

After that, we, and all the other adoptive families who have been staying in Guangzhou this week, went to the U.S. Consulate where we received the all-important “Brown Envelope” that may not be opened for any reason. Lisa and Sue, you know. It is all the information concerning your child that you hand in to immigration at your port of entry (Chicago for us). As soon as our plane lands, our child is a U.S. citizen.

All the families had to take an oath at the Consulate, and there was something really incredible about standing in a room with 30 adoptive families and taking an oath together as we all begin our journey home. After the oath, the director said, “Your long journey is now over. You are DONE.” Everyone cheered, and some cried. We were not permitted to take any cameras to the consulate.

Before I came to China, I felt like… the orphan problem is so huge and this is only one child… but this week at the White Swan I went to breakfast every morning to a room full of little ones who, one week before, sat in orphanages all over this country. And now they sat at a breakfast table with a Mommy and a Daddy. Most of them were two or three years old - all of them had gone it alone thus far. Now here they sat, and it was really incredible. Today, 30 children here in Guangzhou began their journey home

So, now we have a toddler again... A toddler who has never been in a house before... A toddler who doesn’t recognize or understand the things we have or the way we live... A toddler who doesn’t yet know what ‘boundaries’ are, and has absolutely no concept of the word ‘no’... A toddler who cries out of frustration because no one can understand what she wants... A toddler who, we can tell, had to fend for herself some. We have our work cut out for us! She is cute, adorable - and stubborn as can be!

As we rode on the bus to the airport, I wondered what she was thinking about. She wouldn’t let anyone hold her. She sat up really big on the bus seat with her little arm on the windowsill and looked out the window the whole way.

I watched her and thought about how far she has come in this world all alone. She looked so little sitting there so big, and I wondered about all the things she has been through on her own. I thought about a two-year-old little girl who doesn’t belong to anybody, and it made me cry.

I cannot even begin to tell you how it feels to know we’re flying out of China in the morning. We are elated! You know there’s no place like home, and I just feel like bursting into a stanza of “America the Beautiful” - but I’d wake everyone up. When Mom and Dad dropped us off at the airport, Dad said, “Don’t worry, fifteen days will go fast.” However, it feels like we’ve been gone a really long time. But... we’re almost home!! We would appreciate your prayers for safe travel.

Christian and Gracie, see you really, really soon. I cannot describe how much we’ve missed you!

Love to you all.

Miss you like crazy.