More details of this wonderful day!

Where do I even start??? First of all, I want to quote the verse that the Theis'es left in the comment section. Mike and I were both in tears after reading it... how true and alive the word of God is!

AS YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PATH OF THE WIND, OR HOW THE BODY IS FORMED IN A MOTHER'S WOMB, SO YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE WORK OF GOD,THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS."
ECCLESIASTES 11:5

God made this sweet little girl and allowed us to call her ours for a time. I'm in awe, just like I was after all of our children were born. Today, Nina slipped into my heart, and I cannot imagine her anywhere else.

This morning, after breakfast, we took a Taxi to the Civil Affairs Office here in Changsha (kind of like the courthouse), and that's when the jitters started to set in. We knew that it had to be just a matter of minutes until we'd meet her, and we were nervous. Pretty nervous. We were there together with another CCAI family who had just flown in last night, and who was going to meet their twin baby daughters today. There was a room full of crying babies there already, and parents, and complete chaos. I did not see Nina anywhere, and we were ushered in the adjoining room at once. We were then told that the twins were here, but that Nina had not arrived yet. That made it kind of nice, because we were able to take Video and pictures for S. and A. and their babies. We kept peeking into the other room though, and all of a sudden, there she was. I recognized her right away. She was sitting next to the ladies who had walked in with her, her face stoic - it was the face we have been so familiar with since January ;-)). They were fumbling with her hair, putting in some hair clips, and speaking with her, but she showed no emotion. That was when my heart was really aching for her and the tears started welling up in my eyes. I tried to sneak a little closer to take a picture (it's posted in the previous post), and after a few minutes, after S. and A. had finished all their formalities, they brought her in (again, picture is posted). She had a steamed bun and a bag of candy clutched in her little hands, and just looked at us. We got down and started talking to her, and after I while I picked her up. She did not object or cry, but was obviously very unsure of all of this. The entire process went very fast, we were there maybe a 1/2 hour and that was it. We left with her, and she was just eyeing us. There was one time where she cracked a tiny little smile, but most of the time she kept up her serious face.

As soon as we got back to the hotel, she found the toys we had brought for her, and the transformation was almost immediate. She loved the stacking cups, and we stacked, and stacked, and knocked them over, and lined them up, and put cheerios in them and on and on... you get the picture. She started giggling, eating cheerios, and oh my, it was like the sun had come up. She is a little ham, very clever and smart. I would do one thing, and she'd copy me immediately. She has great fine motor skills, loves to lace the big beads I brought and we think she might be left handed. We played with stickers, and Duplos, Playdoh, and she loves to throw the big beach ball around. She is such a joy to watch. She loves to twirl around in her dress, and LOVES to have her picture taken (watch out, Kami!). She immediately wants to see it on the screen, and repeats her name over and over (it kind of sounds like Bo-Buh when she says it). She prances around in front of the mirror and is very sure of herself. Pretty soon she started just loving on me, giving me kisses, and when she saw me in a picture she said "Mama". She loves to hang out with her Daddy just as much, because he lets her play with all the fun toys (Cameras, Calculator and so on ;-)) ). She has just been an absolute delight. She is starting to make very good eye contact with both of us, she lets us snuggle and cuddle with her and feed her. These are such important things when it comes to fostering the attachment process.

I gave her a bath this afternoon, which she loved (God bless the inventor of stacking cups!), and we put on some different clothes, which she was fine with. She is very protective of her shoes though, and did not want to have anything to do with her sandals we brought for her. This is totally fine, and whatever makes her feel comfortable works for us. After her bath she took a good 2 hour nap - not a fuss out of this brave little girl! When she woke up, she was back to her serious self again, I think she just didn't know where she was and who these strangers were. It took only a few minutes though and she was back to her silly self. She communicates her needs very well, and boy, does she have a little 'tude going at times. We had 2 near-temper tantrums when things didn't go the way she wanted. She cracks us up constantly, and it's amazing to think how well she will fit in with the kids at home. She will definitely be able to hold her own, and I'm afraid she will be very receptive to Hoover showing her all this dare devil tricks. She came to us with a little bit of road rash on her forehead.... and oh, does that look familar!

We went for a stroll later on to buy some milk for her (her report said that she loves to drink milk before she goes to bed.... Anya and Elia, your Woo-Woo buddy is coming!!) and some of the same little jello cups that Andi brought home from Japan. She had obviously eaten those before and loves them! We also visited our travel and adoption friends and their new little baby girl, and although Nina was willing to play with that gal for a while (I was holding her), all of a sudden she was done and snuggled in with me. How reassuring! We played some more in our room, and went for dinner after that. Mike and I kept her on our lap, facing us (whoever she was with) and fed her rice and watermelon. Again, she was all snuggly and kept stroking my arm while leaning against me. I tried to give her some ice cream for dessert, and oh boy, she was NOT impressed. The look on her face was priceless!

She seemed really tired after dinner, so we went to our room and got her ready for bed. She has been coughing a little ever since we got her, and now tonight she is running a fever. She took the Tylenol just fine and is sleeping now, but please pray for her that she gets over this quickly. She doesn't really act too sick, so I'm not too concerned at this time. We'll just watch her closely. Neither Mike or I are feeling 100%, not sure if it's the beginning of a cold or just a slight stomach upset, so if you would please pray for health for all of us.

What we are so impressed with is the way she carries herself. You can tell that she has been loved, she radiates the attitude that she is a welcomed child, a child who has known security. Her job is now to transfer her attachment to us, and right now it looks very promising. We are aware that a lot of children go through a so called Honeymoon period, where they don't really think that this is a permanent deal. Yes, we are pretty fun, we play with her, feed her all kinds of yummy snacks (this child loves to eat!), but she will need to grieve for her foster family at some point. This may start tomorrow, next week, in 6 months.... who knows. But right now we are so surprised and incredibly thankful for how well she is doing.

We received all her things that we sent to her in her care packages, but I think she didn't really receive them. Things were not used at all. They made us a little photo album with pictures of her, also from when she was littler, and she loves to look at that. In one picture, she is leaning against the legs of someone, and she always says a name for "her" - we're assuming it's her foster mother.

Another highlight of the day was that we were able to talk to the kids at home for the first time. We love you so so so so so so much, Nico, Anya, Alex and Elia, and we wish you could be here with us. It's only 12 more sleeps until we are home! I know Nina will love you guys! We will have so much fun together! And we want to hear all about the new Motorhome from Grandpa and Grandma!

Well my friends, I'm worn out. What an emotional day this was. And what an incredibly blessed day. God has showered a lot of grace on all of us today. What an awsome Father we have, who has adopted us into his kingdom. Thank you for your prayers - we can definitely feel them.

Good bye from Changsha...

I'll add some more pictures, but I think I will have to do the captions tomorrow... Nighty night, and no we won't let the bedbugs bite!






**** Deutsche Version: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Nina *******