Faith's First Day with her Mama and Baba!

We realized today we needed to get the blog updated before we forget everything. So I will start from the beginning of our trip. Warning long post!! I will not go into detail about every day but her first is something I want to remember everything about.

Before we left home we started to get our bodies ready for the different time zone. Brian stayed up for most of Sunday night but I waited till the night before we left, Monday night. Which was good since we didn't finish packing until about an hour before we left. Joyce and Mom had come to our house on Monday to help which was great.That night we had chinese food and cupcakes for Faith's 1 1/2 Birthday. That was the last time we will sing Happy Birthday without Faith at home. Joyce took us to the airport at 4:15 and our flight to Chicago was due to leave at 6:00. It was delayed once we were loaded due to rainy weather in Chicago so we sat on the run way until 7:30. We landed in Chicago at 10:00 and left for Bejing at 12:00 . Our flight was only 12 hours long. We learned that I am a much better flyer than Brian. I actually enjoyed being forced to sit and sleep, read or watch TV. And it was a bonus having someone serve you lunch and dinner. We only got up twice to stretch our legs and stand a while. I am sure the flight home will be different so I enjoyed it while I could. We landed in Bejing at 3:00 . We met our guide, Louise at the terminal. She will be with us for the remainder of our trip. We took the flight to Chengdu City at 7:40 and landed at 10:40. We went to the hotel and settled in for the night. The next morning would be the day we met our daughter. The hotel is very nice and comfortable. Brian woke up early to do a little of work. I heard him and could not go back to sleep due to nerves and excitement. We got dressed and ate breakfast. The breakfast buffet is very large and they have a lot to choose from. We met Louise at 8:30 to go to the bank to get our money switched out. We had to bring all the money in cash and it had to be in new bills. They inspected the money for any marks and check to see if it is conterfiet. We had about a 1, 000. rejected due to imperfections. Once we had the chinese money we met our driver and drove to the orphange. It was about a 40 minute drive. The driver asked Louise why we wanted a baby when we were young enough to have our own. Louise explained that we already had 2 boys. He asked why we wanted another. Once we arrived at the orphange Louise talked to security and they opened the gate for us to enter. The orphanged is actually very nice with several playgrounds. The international director for the orphange met us outside. She spoke to Louise and then Louise told us what she siad. She said we would go in an met Faith and her foster mother and grandmother. We were confused because we didn't know that she had been with a foster family. They explained that she had been with them since her surgery less than a year ago. They also told us they called the child WuLei. Lei pronoucned like the flower. As we were following them inside we were so shocked about the Foster family that we didn't get the camera out. We assumed we would go into a room and they would bring them in to us. They excorted us directly into the room where they were waiting for us. I gasped and teared up. Not prepared to see her immediately. The foster mom stood up and held WuLei up to us. She told her to kiss her Mama and her Baba. WuLei kissed us both with a big smile. It was so sweet to finally touch our baby girl. The FM tried to hand her over to me but she wouldn't go. Don't blame her. I told them not to force her and that she could take her time. She put her down so we could talk and play with her. We were able to visit with them for a while and ask questions. We completed some paper work and exchanged gifts. We took the FM and director a gift. The FM gave us all of the things we had sent Faith in carepackages and a bag of Faith's favorite foods; small bananas, small oranges and 'cake' balls. The director gave us a Child's Memory Book. It has pictures of her as a baby till about 8 months. There are 2 pictures at the end from May and June of 2011. There are foot prints and hand prints at each developmental milestone and alot of notes. We will have to get those translated. They also gave us an album of pictures that were mostly taken at the FM's house. I am soo glad we were able to have these things. We will treasure all of them as they are part of Faith's history. I hope she will get comfort later in life from having them. During the visit she told us Faith's schedule, what comforts her and some about her personality which we also got to see :) She said that she treated Faith like a little princess and dressed her that way as well. She told us that she has a 18 year old daughter and a 15 year old Foster child. She said they all spoiled Faith. During our visit we saw that Faith ruled the roost and that they took great careof her. They ran to her everytime she fell or needed something. If she wanted something she got it and if someone tried to take it from her she became upset. Our guide told us that Chengdu women are known as Spicy..not only because Chengdu City is known for their spicy food but also because of their temperment. We were able to get Faith to smile and play with us some. Everyone was forcing her on me which cause her to resist me some. I don't blame her...we look weird, smell weird, talk weird. At the end of the visit she was handed over to me by the FM. She cried and reached for her FM. I gave her back so the FM could hug and kiss her another time. We all were emotional. She handed her back to me and we left the room. She cried for a few minutes but we were able to distract her while we took a tour of the orphange. The orphange is very nice and decorated. There are around 600 orphans in Chengdu and 400 are in foster care. Most of the children are special needs. We toured the baby room Faith was in and meet her nanny for a brief second. The nannies were going around changing diapers and laying them back in the beds. We saw the wagons they used to transport the young babies around. They showed us a garden run by the older children and a music classroom. Two nannies had some animals in the hall showing a few children. There were 2 rabbits, a turtle and fish . We were able to take a few pictures as long as children were not in them. I am glad we were able to tour the orphange. Although it was nice for an orphange it is still heartbreaking to see so many babies laying in cribs needing a loving family to care for them. I am so thankful God called Brian and I to adopt. Faith will grow up in a loving family. An orphan no more! After the tour we left the orphanage. We stopped at a corner store a few blocks down from the orphange to get a few things. I stayed in the van with Faith while Brian and Louise went inside. A few minutes later I saw Faith's FM, grandmother and another baby walk by. She called out for a taxi and Faith heard her. She immediately started looking for her and crying. On the way home she kept looking on the streets for her. We went back to the hotel and ordered room service. I ordered an Italian soup and Brian ordered a Chicked Sandwich. Faith ate half of my soup, some bread, Brian's tomato and some cumber. I wasn't expecting her to eat that much since she had 2 bananas at the orphange and some puffs in the car. Faith cryed out every once in a while but was easy to distract. We played with her for a while in the room and could tell she was ready for a nap. I changed her diaper which she didn't like. I wanted to change her clothes but didn't want to upset her or change to much too soon so I just put a pair of pajama pants on her after I changed her diaper. I have always heard not to do anything the first few weeks to upset her and set back the bonding. The FM said she walked her to calm her down so we walked the room and the hall some. But she would just get upset. She reached for the crib once so I put her in it, she lost it, so I picked her back up. We decided to just sit with her and read. Brian was able to calm her down by sitting in the chair and not really interacting but just holding her. We switched and I held her until she fell asleep. I layed with her in the bed and we let her nap until 4:30 when Louise came to our room to fill out some paperwork. We then went to a place to develope the cameras we had sent in a carepackage and to the SuperMarket. The Supermarkets are under the Department Stores so you have to go through the Department Store to get to it. We bought the chinese formula she takes and some bananas. After that we picked up some chicken from KFC and headed back to the hotel. Brian and Faith's appetite has been great but mine has not. I have been homesick and emotional being apart from the boys. It has really been hard knowing I am on the other side of the world from them. I know leaving them at home instead of bringing them with us was the best for everyone but it just stinks to have to be gone for sooo long!!!! Owen asked before we left why we couldn't get her and come back. I wonder the same thing :( Anyway... That night we bathed Faith which she loved!!! She became very upset when I took her out. She had been in the tub for 20-30 minutes and the water was getting cold. We dressed her and tried to give her a bottle. She couldn't drink from the nipple. Earlier in the day we saw that she has a cleft palate. Her referral paperwork said she did have a cleft palate and then said she didn't in other parts. So a couple of months later we asked and they said she did not. Then at the orphange we asked and they said she did not. So..I was playing with her, she leaned back with her mouth open and I could she that she did. It is just gumline and not very big. We don't care that she has one but we would have come better prepared as far as bottles are concerned. I only brought one type which she doesn't like. That night and the next morning she didn't take the bottle. Faith started getting tired about 9:30 so I walked around with her. She was pretty upset. She reached for the bed so I layed her down. She layed there and calmed herself down and then went to sleep. She tossed and turned alot through out the night and reached to make sure I was there but she never woke. We had to wake her at 7:30 so we could get ready for the day.