Day 5: Our Gotcha Day and Birthday celebration- Part one

What a day!!! On Monday, January 18, which happened to be Talia's 5th birthday, we got to hold her for the first time.  Let's back it up and give ya a play by play... I got up at 3 am because I could not sleep.  Go figure... I had some quality time with Toby and David at breakfast because I had a feeling that someone else would want full attention the rest of the day.  We had a meeting with our guide, and then prepared our documents/gifts.  David and I kept breathing heavy all day because we have experienced this moment before and it happened to be a pretty life changing moment.  We didn't know if she would like us, cry, run, laugh, or be affectionate.  We really didn't have too much information about her only that she was deaf. At 2:00 in the afternoon,  we weaved in and out of traffic to reach the Civil Afairs building. We walked in not knowing if she was there or not. There were 14 other families in the room getting their children. You could hear some of the children crying and parents trying to sooth them. We didn't want to miss anything with our video camera because it was going so fast when we got there.  Talia even walked by us to go to the playroom.  ( They bring them to the parents one at a time from the playroom.)It was crazy to see her and not hold her right away.  I really prayed for strength because it is such an emotional time to meet your child for the first time.  The moment had arrived...out came this beautiful princess in a bright pink coat with a stunned look on her face. She was escorted by her teachers from the orphanage. Toby's response to seeing her is what still breaks my heart as I think about it. He was so tender and caring with her. He gently touched her face, kissed her and seemed so compassionate.  He understood everything she had been through.  It was such an answer to prayer.   She seemed stunned and it was sad when her teachers had to leave. Talia didn't cry, but seemed somber. She got in our van with no problem and we went back to the hotel. She was looking around the place with alot of curiosity, but was very calm.  We immediately changed her into her "birthday girl" shirt and put on her crown. It was her birthday and we needed to celebrate this very special day! We took a walk outside and found some delicious fried rice. Talia took two bites and stopped. She didn't look too good.  To be continued......

I got to meet Courtney that I met online. We had our Gotcha moment together

On our way

This picture means so much!! You see our little Talia Lin SiRu is named after David's sister, Linda. Linda Talley impacted both of our lives in so many ways that we had to name our little one after her. If Talia becomes anything close to our sister, she will be a great lady! 

Day 4: Crossing the line into change

Have you ever stood next to a sign that read "Please wait here" and there was a line on the floor that you were to stand behind? We all have had that experience of waiting until it's our turn whether we are at an amusement park, post office, restaurant, etc.. This adoption process has gone quicker than we expected, but we have still had to wait for 11 months to embrace a little girl that we connected with the moment we saw her picture. All day today (Sunday, Jan. 17) we have been right on the line ready to cross into a life changing moment. I have had several huge
life-changers in my  (ahem) 48 years (or if you have seen "Inside Out", core memories) like when I was 13 and accepted Christ as my Savior (the ultimate life-changer) when I went to college, when I got married to David Faile, when I had a miscarriage,  when I birthed my 3 biological babies, when I almost died in 2003, and when we adopted Toby 25 months ago. Today, I get to cross that line again and add another life changing event to my list. It feels so surreal to be here in China and to know that our little one is on her way now to meet us for the first time is unbelievable.
We woke up on Sunday pretty early again (5:15 am) and Toby wanted to know if we were going to church.  We told him that China doesn't have as many churches as America and we would just have our service together in the room. He could not understand why people would not want to go to church. I love that he loves hearing stories about Jesus.
  We went to breakfast, met some other adoptive families and hung out in the room again.  Toby was actually tired and took a good nap. (Praise the Lord) During his nap, I had time to regroup and meditate on God's Word. I read about the beatitudes.  How appropriate for this day!
The sun peaked it's head out so we finally got to enjoy some blue skies for a change. When Toby woke up, we walked around our area and went to McDonalds. Toby feels some fear on the streets with the traffic and crowds, but he still tries to get away and lead. I bought a Monkey for him to wear and that tail really helps us reel him in. If you have ever had a Deaf child that runs away and you are in dangerous traffic  , you would completely understand why we bought the monkey. (:
We had some time to play on the playground and workout before we headed out for dinner. We went to some local places for Chinese noodles and fried rice. While walking on the crowded sidewalks, we saw two scenarios that impacted us all. We saw a crippled man all twisted up, half dressed laying on the sidewalk with a tin cup. Toby asked a million questions about the man. He even said as he was clutching my hand tightly that he wanted Dad to give him money.  Of course we did. I don't know his story, but he could have been in an orphanage somewhere and aged out of it and was forced to be on the street. Our hearts broke as we thought about the "what if" Many children with special needs age out of the system and then have no chance of being adopted.  My Toby could have been that boy.   We also saw another lady with a 4 yr old boy sitting on the sidewalk begging. The boy was just running around her as she was sitting. It broke our hearts. Toby had such a solemn look on his face as we talked about that man on the sidewalk and the mom/son with no home.   The one thing that Toby kept asking us was " why didn't a family find (adopt) him?" ( in regards to the homeless man).  That is a tough one to answer.
Tomorrow's post should be pretty big. Be prepared !! It's Gotcha Day and Talia's 5th birthday!

For you Luke 

Toby must be turning American. He didn't know what this was.

Day 3: Carrying out the call

On Saturday, January 16, our day started out with a blessing. The hotel that we are staying in is one of the "go to" hotels for adoptive families.  They arrive late on Fridays so the Saturday morning breakfast bar is quite crowded. All adoptive families, no matter what their child's province is,  end their process here in Guangzhou because the US consulate is in this city.  Because Talia is from this province, we get to stay here the entire 2 weeks therefore we get to see alot of families.  We met many families today at the end of their process. They will be leaving on Wednesday or Thursday to go back home.  We were eating during breakfast and one by one American families came in with their Chinese children. ..blind children, children in wheelchairs,  babies, cleft palate children ... I got so emotional seeing this beautiful sight as these families were carrying out the call to care for the orphan. I also saw many of the families praying together before they ate.  My heart was bursting with emotion.  And to top it all off, I recognized a child that I had seen before!!!!! No joke!!   In 2011, our family visited an orphanage for blind children.  We got to visit many blind children while we were there and sure enough, one of the same boys that we saw in 2011, was being adopted this week and I got to see him again.  MIRACLE!!!!  In 2011, our group prayed that the children would find their forever families. For God to give us the gift of allowing us to see this answer to our prayer, blessed my heart to tears! God used that trip to a blind orphanage in 2011 to open my eyes more toward adoption. He had already started with me after watching some close friends adopt. (THANK YOU ISAACS AND RAYMONDS FOR YOUR OBEDIENCE THAT MINISTERED TO ME) I had NO intention of ever adopting because of money, my age, my deep wound of losing my ability to have children in 2003, and it was just too hard. Well, God had other plans for us. (And I say US because it wasn't just my idea. I was actually the last one to get on board with the idea. )He called us to care for the orphan just like he is calling all Christians.  Now that might mean something different for you (adoption, fostering, supporting, advocating, helping) ,but we are ALL called to care.  I still am an older mom (although my skincare business helps me look younger 😆),  I still need funding, the scar is still there of my trauma in 2003, and it still is too hard (Toby is in trouble as I'm writing this), BUT GOD is giving us the strength we need everyday. (Lord, I need more on Monday.)
After breakfast,  David and I took turns going to the workout room. That felt good to do that!!! We took another walk in the rain again and ended up at KFC.  It was not the greatest chicken, but the fries were good.  We also went to the local Walmart and the mall. We came back to the room and read, played, watched the weirdest Chinese kids show that made no sense, and just hung out together.
In the evening, we decided to eat dinner in the hotel to avoid the cold rainy night. WRONG CHOICE! We ate at a restaurant that looked like the rainforest cafe, but we felt like we paid a little too much for what we got.  Oh well, lesson learned... We all fell asleep around 8:00pm.  That's a first for this night owl! Talk at ya tomorrow.  Our Gotcha day is Monday here in China, but it will be during the night Sunday for you all back on America. 2 more days!!!! I feel like I'm in a dream!

Our hotel

The dinner plates are the size of a small saucer. Small portions! Maybe that is why there are not too many overweight Chinese people.

Duck anyone? Head still attached!

Day 2: Catching some Zzzzzzz's

Thankfully we have a little time to regroup and get our bodies in sync with China time before we are running after two little ones.
On Friday, January 15th we started the day by waking up at 5 am and hanging out in the room until the breakfast bar opened. We went down and enjoyed a variety of delicious choices including traditional American breakfast foods, salad, fruits, pastries, sushi, Chinese noodles and rice. We then had a meeting with our guide to discuss the schedule for our time here. We got to tour this magnificent hotel. It was raining all day, but as soon as the weather clears, there will be beautiful pictures of the gardens including a huge waterfall. I feel like I'm at a Disney resort.
We took a walk outside to check out the area. This area is very busy and has a variety of high end shops and restaurants.    ( Not a place for a little boy that touches everything ) We instead went to the local Walmart called "Trust Mart". It was a really neat store.  Funny thing is...I didn't see anyone walking around in their pajamas. (:
Toby did a great job staying with us and reached for our hands the whole time. We ate lunch at Pizza Hut and enjoyed it very much.  We were starting to get tired so we went back to the room. This huge wave of tiredness hit both David and I but not Toby. He has so much energy that he doesn't even get jet lagged. We finally got up and moving and walked to an Italian restaurant nearby for dinner.  Zonked, exhausted, weary, drained, and worn out are some great words to describe how we feel...except Toby. (:

This was before the wave of exhaustion hit..

Thought of you Bethany

We were going to eat this delish ice cream until we saw the price.

Toby said he was a KING sitting on this cool chair.

Warm water anyone?

Day 1: The 24 hour journey

At 8:30 am on Wednesday,  January 13th, we left our house to head to the airport. David, Toby and I began our adventure to the other side of the world. Saying goodbye to Bethany, Luke and my baby girl, Cassidy was not easy because we are a tight-knit family that normally goes on these adventures together. My children are such a blessing to me and I missed them the second we separated.
 I was so proud of Toby. He followed us and didn't run away from us. Now I will say that he tried to lead us because of his independent nature, but for the most part, he was a trooper. The only time he got in trouble was kicking the seat in front of him on the airplane (Sorry Kimberly) and accidentally spilling water on the same person. (Sorry Kimberly..again) He did not want to watch cartoons or do any of his activities that we brought, so entertaining him was challenging for three flights equaling  16 hours of flight time. Out of those 16 hours, he slept 4 hours off and on. TOUGH!!  His favorite thing to do was watch the progress of the flight on the monitor.  He asked some great questions about that like " Are we going to see Santa because he is north?" (We actually did fly over the North Pole so I told him that Santa was on vacation at the beach so we couldn't see him.(:  ) He also asked me about heaven and God since we were in the clouds. What a joy!  He also told me that he felt very happy to go to China to get a new sister. I am praying that this will be the case after they meet.
At 10:00 pm (China time on Thursday, January 14th )we arrived in our room in the Garden hotel in Guangzhou, China. It was 9:00 am on Thursday at our Ohio home. 24 hours!!!! Longest day ever,  but God answered our prayers for safety. The hotel is very nice and thankfully since our daughter is from this same province we get to stay here the entire 2 weeks. Huge blessing!
Confession...So ever since we adopted our child that has no record of his past, I'm always curious about his biological parents. Who were they? Did they have another ethnicity since Toby has such dark skin and big eyes? Where are they now? Do they ever think about him? Well, on a funny note, I sure did think that the man behind us on the 13 hour flight could have been a match.  He loudly passed gas (because I can't say the other word) the entire trip and made lots of similar noises that Toby makes. The smells were very similar that Toby even said "Did I do that?" Lol
Well, that is the end of Day one and a half since we lost half of a day with the time change. Thanks for your continued prayers for us and our 3 at home. Love you all!

Am I really going back to China again or is this a dream?

As we are getting things ready around the house to leave for China on Wednesday, I feel like I'm in a dream.   This will be our third time back to China, the first being an educational, mission type trip to help in English classes and visit an orphanage, the second to adopt our little Toby and now to adopt our little Talia.  David and I are excited, but also sad that we cannot bring our three biological children, Bethany,Luke and Cassidy with us.  They were able to come with us on the first two trips.  We are a team and when we have to separate,it just doesn't feel right.  We will be thinking about them the entire time and we know that they will be just fine.  We will be so excited to be a family of SEVEN when we arrive on January 29th.

We are starting to pack our suitcases and I had to pack up Talia's bag first.  I LOVE the birthday shirt that my friends gave her because you see, we will actually hold her in our arms for the first time ON HER 5TH BIRTHDAY.   We will do our best to make her birthday the best one she has ever had.  This is her last birthday to ever be an orphan again and we are giving her the gift of a family on the very same day that she was born.  (Tissue break) We will give you as many updates as we have time for.  Having Toby with us and a new child that we don't even know, will bring many time constraints as you can imagine, but when the children are asleep, we will do our best to communicate with our special family and friends.  We are so grateful for the many donors that gave to our adoption.  We honestly could not have done this without you.  Thank you for allowing God to use you in our lives. We are so blessed!

That first little tooth....

So today was a bittersweet moment when my sweet Toby lost his first baby tooth.    Here are some of my thoughts about it...

When we first got Toby, I noticed that his two bottom middle teeth were different than the rest of his teeth.  They were discolored and unhealthy.  Who knows if he was in a poor environment as a baby... or maybe he was sick?    Since I don't have ANY history of Toby's past, I always scramble to find some little piece of history so I can try and guess what his life was like.  I know that I will never probably ever know, but I just have to try. We even went to the place in China where Toby was left.  It is called his "Finding Spot".  We kept asking all of the nurses that we saw if they had any information on him.  We asked the orphanage workers if they remembered him when the police officers brought him there.  No one could give us any information because there were so many children that came through their doors.  But when I think about those precious teeth, I think about when he was a little baby in China oblivious to what his future would hold.   These two little teeth were his very first teeth to break through the skin.  His biological mother probably witnessed this moment.  She probably smiled when her baby finally passed this first of many milestones.

Today, that first little tooth that popped through his gums in China, came out in his new home in America.  If only that little tooth could talk and tell me the story of my baby boy's life.  The 5 years that little tooth stayed in our boy's mouth were the most traumatic but yet the most glorious years of his life.  I am just grateful that our little boy did not have to lose his first tooth all alone in an orphanage bed.  He had a family to cheer for him and celebrate this accomplishment.  He got his picture taken and was told about the big surprises that awaited him after he put his tooth under his pillow. ( And yes, I am one of those Mom's that does the whole tooth fairy thing...)  I am just thankful that while his biological Mom probably witnessed the eruption of his first tooth, his forever Mommy got to witness him losing his first tooth.  A little piece of his history was taken out of his life.  Will I keep that sweet little tooth?  You bet I will.. How can we ever forget where he came from?  But with the loss of this history, comes the growth of a new developing healthy, permanent reality.  

 In many ways, I feel slighted that I missed seeing him grow up.  I never got to see him as a newborn baby or toddler.  I don't have any pictures of him from 0-2.   After a child loses their first tooth their face starts to change into an older child.  I want time to slow down so I can enjoy this little guy a little longer, but I know that I can't.  So I will cherish every day that I have and thank  the Lord for allowing me to be his Mom now and forever.

I am so blessed to be his Mommy!