After years of waiting and several sleepless nights, "Gotcha Day" finally arrived! We were awake long before the alarm went off this morning, and we left the hotel at 5:40am not knowing what to expect of this day. We said goodbye to our new and dear friends at the airport as they left for their girls in their respective provinces, looking forward to meeting their girls on the 30th in Guangzhou. It was a fairly short plane ride to Nanchang (just over two hours). Everything seems shorter once you've flown to the other side of the world! We were picked up at the airport and had a 30 minute ride to prepare for the news. Salem and the orphanage officials were at the hotel waiting for us. Prayerful but not fretful, we again realized how supported we feel in this journey. Clearly, folks are praying for us. Gone is the anxiety and stress over meetings, expectations, and what may happen. Well, all except for the dream I had several times last night involving the value of the dollar crashing overnight and me waking up to find that I did not have enough *mint condition US currency* to complete the adoption process. Yeah, it was still rough after I closed my eyes to sleep. We thanked God together and prepared for our introduction.
The introduction came even quicker than we anticipated. As we walked into our hotel, a small delegation of people were sitting to the left of the lobby. I didn't have to see the little baby on the man's lap to know that it was my daughter. Things moved quickly, and by the time I knew it, Amy was holding Salem. For all I knew, she jumped over someone to grab her. I'll have to review her videotape. Handshakes, introductions, instructions, directions - all these things were shared, but it was a blur that was over before anything could be retained. A few minutes later, we were brought to our hotel room by our host, Cabbin, and the local Bethany coordinator, Marry. They made sure we knew which end was up and that babies require occasional feeding. I guess there are a lot of first time parents adopting with Bethany. I was very glad they were here, because I needed a little push towards responsibility. It was very easy just to enjoy the moment, but there was no time for that. We are now the parents of a beautiful 11 month old girl! They told us we had under two hours before we were to begin the gauntlet of government office visits.
In a perfect world, we would have fed her a bottle, put her down for a nap, and gently awoken her as we slipped down to the lobby at 1:30. In Salem's world, she was too curious to eat or sleep. After about 15 minutes in the room, the began talking and playing, but mostly she wanted to be held. If you know Amy's heart, this was an answer to prayer. We laugh at how non-affectionate Jonathan is. Incredibly sweet, but not cuddly. Salem may be his opposite. Her clothes seem to be velcro. She loves to be held, and she even rests (and sleeps) on us. As we were riding in the car to an appointment with Salem snuggling Amy with both arms and legs wrapped around, Amy looked at me and said "My heart is very full." I mainly hope she remains snuggly through the Shanghai-NYC flight. Salem is incredibly content (until she's not - see later). She is sweet and pleasant and very curious.
At 1:30 (really 1:40 as I'm frantically grabbing bottles and changes of clothes and stuffing them in my backpack), we went to the adoption registration office. By 2:30, we had signed, transacted, been interviewed and photographed, and we were handed what looked like a small diploma case. Inside was the good news - Salem is ours. Salem Ruidan Ellison Scott officially joined our family two hours after Christmas EST. We reveled in this a few moments before we had to run to two more government offices. Fortunately, we moved through those visits quickly and got to the hotel before 4 pm. By this time Salem was getting restless. The was hungry and thirsty and tired. 10 minute naps in the car between appointments and mum mum biscuits weren't meeting her need. She needed sleep and a bottle, and she wasn't too interested in either. She cried and fussed, but refused to accept what she needed. Isn't that just like us? But Amy was gracious and patient, and we played with her and coaxed her for almost two hours. Finally, around 6, she trusted us and took the bottle. After Salem ate, mommy and daddy ate. We missed lunch, and the clif bars only go so far. We ate, came back to the room, gave Salem another bottle (gone quickly), and she went down without complaint. Amy followed 10 minutes later, asleep on top of the sheets in a bed crowded with baby clothes, bottle parts and camera equipment.
I will follow as soon as I can, but I could not wait to share our day and our beautiful daughter with you. So many have prayed for us, and we know that support well. Thank you so much. Pray that Salem will bond with us, that we will be able to discern a schedule for her, and that the following duty filled days will be easy on all of us. I can't believe that we still have another 9 days of hoops to jump through, but the biggest hoop is behind us. Salem is ours, adopted (past tense) into our family and forever a Scott. Praise God for His kindness to us.
Pray also for our friends who met their girls today. They each face unique challenges, a 2 year old with spina bifida and an 8 year old with cerebral palsy Pray for the Andersons as they also face communication challenges with their daughter. I love their courage and faith, and we will meet up with these families and two others in a few days to celebrate with them. Love to you all, especially those who are making sacrifices to allow us the freedom to be here. I know more people than I can count have been waiting for this day. I can't wait to introduce you to my little girl. By the way, I made her smile ear to ear. There could be no greater victory today.
Tomorrow we have an easy morning at the hotel, we get to introduce Salem to Jonathan via Skype, and we go shopping for water and necessities in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to being in the wild with Salem, and I can't wait for Jonathan to meet his little sister. Down side - he's going to demand that we bring her home quickly. Maybe that can be one more prayer request. Good night from Nanchang.
The introduction came even quicker than we anticipated. As we walked into our hotel, a small delegation of people were sitting to the left of the lobby. I didn't have to see the little baby on the man's lap to know that it was my daughter. Things moved quickly, and by the time I knew it, Amy was holding Salem. For all I knew, she jumped over someone to grab her. I'll have to review her videotape. Handshakes, introductions, instructions, directions - all these things were shared, but it was a blur that was over before anything could be retained. A few minutes later, we were brought to our hotel room by our host, Cabbin, and the local Bethany coordinator, Marry. They made sure we knew which end was up and that babies require occasional feeding. I guess there are a lot of first time parents adopting with Bethany. I was very glad they were here, because I needed a little push towards responsibility. It was very easy just to enjoy the moment, but there was no time for that. We are now the parents of a beautiful 11 month old girl! They told us we had under two hours before we were to begin the gauntlet of government office visits.
In a perfect world, we would have fed her a bottle, put her down for a nap, and gently awoken her as we slipped down to the lobby at 1:30. In Salem's world, she was too curious to eat or sleep. After about 15 minutes in the room, the began talking and playing, but mostly she wanted to be held. If you know Amy's heart, this was an answer to prayer. We laugh at how non-affectionate Jonathan is. Incredibly sweet, but not cuddly. Salem may be his opposite. Her clothes seem to be velcro. She loves to be held, and she even rests (and sleeps) on us. As we were riding in the car to an appointment with Salem snuggling Amy with both arms and legs wrapped around, Amy looked at me and said "My heart is very full." I mainly hope she remains snuggly through the Shanghai-NYC flight. Salem is incredibly content (until she's not - see later). She is sweet and pleasant and very curious.
At 1:30 (really 1:40 as I'm frantically grabbing bottles and changes of clothes and stuffing them in my backpack), we went to the adoption registration office. By 2:30, we had signed, transacted, been interviewed and photographed, and we were handed what looked like a small diploma case. Inside was the good news - Salem is ours. Salem Ruidan Ellison Scott officially joined our family two hours after Christmas EST. We reveled in this a few moments before we had to run to two more government offices. Fortunately, we moved through those visits quickly and got to the hotel before 4 pm. By this time Salem was getting restless. The was hungry and thirsty and tired. 10 minute naps in the car between appointments and mum mum biscuits weren't meeting her need. She needed sleep and a bottle, and she wasn't too interested in either. She cried and fussed, but refused to accept what she needed. Isn't that just like us? But Amy was gracious and patient, and we played with her and coaxed her for almost two hours. Finally, around 6, she trusted us and took the bottle. After Salem ate, mommy and daddy ate. We missed lunch, and the clif bars only go so far. We ate, came back to the room, gave Salem another bottle (gone quickly), and she went down without complaint. Amy followed 10 minutes later, asleep on top of the sheets in a bed crowded with baby clothes, bottle parts and camera equipment.
I will follow as soon as I can, but I could not wait to share our day and our beautiful daughter with you. So many have prayed for us, and we know that support well. Thank you so much. Pray that Salem will bond with us, that we will be able to discern a schedule for her, and that the following duty filled days will be easy on all of us. I can't believe that we still have another 9 days of hoops to jump through, but the biggest hoop is behind us. Salem is ours, adopted (past tense) into our family and forever a Scott. Praise God for His kindness to us.
Pray also for our friends who met their girls today. They each face unique challenges, a 2 year old with spina bifida and an 8 year old with cerebral palsy Pray for the Andersons as they also face communication challenges with their daughter. I love their courage and faith, and we will meet up with these families and two others in a few days to celebrate with them. Love to you all, especially those who are making sacrifices to allow us the freedom to be here. I know more people than I can count have been waiting for this day. I can't wait to introduce you to my little girl. By the way, I made her smile ear to ear. There could be no greater victory today.
Tomorrow we have an easy morning at the hotel, we get to introduce Salem to Jonathan via Skype, and we go shopping for water and necessities in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to being in the wild with Salem, and I can't wait for Jonathan to meet his little sister. Down side - he's going to demand that we bring her home quickly. Maybe that can be one more prayer request. Good night from Nanchang.
2 comments:
Well . . I'll be the first . . and all I can say is WOW!! This is so incredible and I can't wait to hold my beautiful little Salem. I'm so relieved and thankful that things have gone well and continue to pray for your safety, easy bonding and the remainder of an unforgetible journey!
Much love from Gommy
She's just so beautiful! I'm so happy for you guys!
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