Gotcha day from Mommy's Heart

Waking up in Beijing came as early as the day before and I laid in bed praying pondering what was to await us. The nervousness was gone....a silent peace swept over me. I got up and began preparing to say goodbye to this leg of the journey. With luggage in tow and 20 minutes to spare before having to depart for the airport, we quickly jumped on the computer to Skype call my dad. Jonathan and the Grands were due to be there for the evening and everyone was together for Christmas dinner. Although we could be there to see everyone, talking on the phone was just as special considering the day ahead of us and what it was to bring. On our ride to the airport, the three families shared language tips and took a crack at Google voice to make sure we were pronouncing correctly the words of comfort we have been practicing to use with our children. It is greatly important that we have the correct inflection on the word "mama" lest we confuse our children when we tell them we are their forever cow:) Such things are of great importance!Saying goodbye to the Andersons and Johnsons was exciting because we knew the other side of that is a reunion with our children in Guangzou. It feels as if we are saying goodbye to family in anticipation of returning from a great adventure. Flying into Nanchang, I felt a responsibility to capture for Salem even the terrain and it's unique patchwork of colors and texture and movement passing underneath us. Through the haze, I snapped whatever caught my fancy to scrapbook for her. This is where she is from, her homeland and God-ordained place of origin. To allow it to fade into the horizon uncaptured would be unfortunate. We would love to bring her back one day, but only God knows if that will happen. At one point, it seemed as if there were a glare on the scratched and foggy airplane window creating a light effect through the clouds. Upon moving forward what I saw clearly became a shaft of sunlight bursting through several layers of clouds as if to say "here she is!" The thought was a reassuring reminder that God has been intimately overseeing our journey and was now bringing it to pass. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched the ground come up to meet us, then we landed. The emotions I felt walking through the gate tunnel were a combination of a peaceful joy and awe over the faces I was seeing. Watching the locals pass by, I wondered what features they shared with Salem and what she might look like at their ages. Every step I took toward the door was one less than before, my feet steadily carrying me to meet her. Our bags safely arrived and popped out of the conveyor flaps the moment we approached the belt, the momentum carrying an assurance and urgency to keep moving. Cabeen met us at the doors, holding a sign reading "Scotts" and quickly swept us to the car where Mrs. Wang was waiting to escort us to the hotel. On the 30 minute drive, we had so many questions. Cabeen answered what he could, yet much was left to discovery upon arrival. Here was where I had to allow my expectations to allude me. Our daughter was waiting for us at the hotel. Would we have time to go to our room, unpack and get organized? Again, I had to let the unknown become a welcome part of the next few minutes. We were going to meet her...after such a long wait, and all else seemed to vanish in importance. As we approached the hotel I looked at Drew and said "I know that so many people are praying for us, I can feel the peace!" The butterflies that I imagined would be furiously flying around inside of me weren't there...My heart wasn't even racing. It was much like the day we met Jonathan. Although the circumstances were different having been our first experience of becoming parents and the lightning paced speed thrusting us to him did create a nervousness, the peace I felt was identical. This is what we are called to do today, and my autopilot mommy sense went off. Ok, here we go, I thought.With video camera in one hand and my carry-on in the next, we barely had time to walk through the doors before a barrage of people came moving towards us from the left side of the lobby. Suddenly I realized the moment was on top of us and I scrambled to start filming. I still don't know what was caught those first few moments. All I remember was a lady positioning herself beside me, her words a jumbled ball of Chinese, and others closing in welcoming us with similar sounds. Smiles were exchanged, the camera clicking furiously behind me, and then I spotted her, sitting with a woman on the couch. She was wearing a thick pink snow suit, similar to ones you would see allover town on babies and young children, and wearing a warm hat, lying on her back, her arms and legs dangling. The image of the little boy from the Christmas Story came to mind, but I didn't even have time to chuckle until now remembering it. The lady sat her up and handed her to me. She just stared, unfazed by the commotion. The peace that we had been praying over her for so many years, was evident in her face.She let me hold her and navigate the sea of information washing over both of us. We left knowing that we would see the orphanage director later and have an opportunity to ask more questions. Salem needed to be fed, and that was the most important thing.Mary, our local advocate with Bethany brought us to our room and informed us of our next appointments that afternoon. We had two hours to feed her, hopefully get her a nap, fill out forms and prepare our gifts. She had no interest in her bottle and showed evident signs of sleepiness, yet her curiosity keep her from her nap. She did however find that the rice crackers her older brother loved as a baby were to her liking as well and gnawed them to a paste in no time. She had a bath which I'm not so sure she had experienced in the same way before. Unlike her brother, she did not like the water at all and screamed until we had her dressed in her new clothes, We skyped with the Grands and Gommy in the last moments of their Christmas Day to introduce them to their Christmas gift and new granddaughter. Before we knew it, we had 10 minutes to get everything together. Amidst the explosion of bags that happened when we first arrive in haste to find everything we needed for her bottle, we scrambled again to pack a diaper bag and try to remember what having a baby was like again.Unlike in South America where appointment times are negotiable within several hours, here everything is like clockwork. Off we were swept to appointment after appointment. Our pictures were taken, papers were signed, interviews were given, thumbprints stamped and gifts were exchanged. In two hours time, we had been to three different places,had multiple appointments, met other adoptive families swept up in the same whirlwind of family making and had an official certificate declaring Salem was ours. We adopted her today and she will be forever ours irrevocably. We had not known that today would be the official day, but it was and we welcomed it with thankful hearts.In China, car seats are a foreign concept. Salem tried to catch up on her naps in the mobile intermissions between appointments as she nestled onto my chest. As we drove across the Gan river, I looked at Drew and said, "my heart is full." For my child to fall asleep on me is a welcome blessing and sweet answer to prayer. And to ponder that at that moment we were exactly where the Lord wanted us gave us an overarching peace.On our return to the hotel, Salem was getting fussy. We knew she was hungry and thirsty as her diaper had been dry since we changed it after her bath. She had yet to take her bottle, so for the next two hours we played with her and let her explore the bottle. Most of our efforts were met with a push of the arm or a clinched jaw, but once the bottle was in her mouth and she trusted us enough to let us feed her, she sucked it down in no time. After she ate, mommy and daddy ate. We took her to the hotel restaurant and fed her puffs and fruit puree. She mostly wanted to play with it or throw it on the floor.Spoon skills have yet to be acquired. After a long day, she let us feed her again without complaint and went straight to sleep at 8:00.Twelve hours later she quietly awoke, took a bottle and met her older brother on Skype.What a day to remember! We will post more pictures soon. As, I type,Salem is fast asleep in front of me in the sling...oh, my heart!Thank you, Lord for this gift.