Gotcha Day! ~ Steph

Wow.  What an emotionally draining day!  We started off with a large breakfast at the buffet downstairs here at the hotel.  We had realized earlier the excessive cost of sending out some laundry to be washed, so we took it on ourselves to wash some in the bathtub.  There is clothes hanging to dry all over our bathroom.  Yesterday, upon noting that we had 2 twin beds for the 5 (now 6) of us, we walked down to the Carrefour (France's equivalent of Wal-mart) and bought two air bed mattresses.  Nothing like camping out in a 5-star hotel!

After breakfast, we enjoyed a swim followed by going out to have lunch at a restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.  No one there spoke ANY English, so it was up to Sara to once again use her Mandarin and order us something.  She did a fine job, though we didn't exactly know what it was she ordered until it got to our table!  After lunch we met the other family here from BC that is also adopting.  They have 2 bio daughters and have also previously adopted one girl from China (actually only a couple hours drive from here).

Our guide Christine

Then the guide came by and we climbed up into the bus and headed out to the government office for the Gotcha day!  The butterflies were flying fast and furious in all of our tummies.  The other family's little girl arrived first - she is about 18 months old and a real sweetie.  It was heartwarming and touching to see mom, dad and the 3 girls in awe of this new little one join their family!

 

 

 We then got notice that Li Lin was coming.  She walked in to the room independently.  What an absolute cutie! Taller than we had anticipated, but very petite.  We approached her with trembling hearts, hoping to be accepted by her.  She was a little cautious at first, and not to sure of us.

She spotted some little riding toys at the back of the room and declared - (yes, in Mandarin, praise the Lord! Sara and her can communicate decently well) that she wanted to go play.

Once she got to the riding toy, she seemed to be enjoying herself.  She interacted fairly well with all of us, and we even got a few grins and chuckles from a couple of the toys.

 

She allowed us to be photographed with her, and had no problems letting Sara hold her for the group photos!  Things were going tremendously well... until we started leaving and the workers from the orphanage were not going with her!  It seems Li Lin had no problems having a little play date with us, but was in no mood to move in permanently!

At this point, she stared sobbing uncontrollably, alternately calling out for her grandpa, grandma and little brother (her elderly caregivers and her foster brother).  She then kept asking to go outside to play.  This continued as we were leaving the office, in the van, as we stopped for passport photos, back in the van to the hotel.

She thankfully fell asleep in Sara's arms in the van and we lay her down, exhausted on the bed when we got back.  We had a bit of paperwork to complete, and Li Lin woke up shortly after that was done.  Her tears and cries continued.  She insisted she wanted to go outside to play.  Really, what she was asking, was to go away from us!  We felt horrible.  Eventually, Sara managed to settle her down slightly with a walk around our floor in the hotel.  She once again fell asleep in Sara's arms and is currently asleep in bed, along with the rest of the crew.

 We are emotionally and physically (particularly Sara, who has held her for most of the time) drained.  It is so difficult to see such a little one grieve so heavily!  Apparently, that's good news for the long run, but it does nothing to make the present feel any easier!  She got quite angry at one point, stomping her feet and jumping up and down.  Sadness and anger are two of the stages of grieving... so we are well on our way!  It is interesting to see how her little personality comes out even during the grieving.  The kids all tried to distract her with the collection of toys and activities that we had brought.  They all worked... for a few seconds!  It was as if she was saying - ok, that's interesting, but I know that all you are trying to do is to distract me from what my main goal here is - to get away from all of you!  The kids are taking it hard.  They feel the sorrow that she is going through.  It is nice to see empathy on their part.

Rykauna and Logan crying along with their little sister.  Empathy - Character Trait of the Month!

We appreciate the prayers.  Tomorrow is another day!  That's right - my newest daughter does not like me, though I don't think she actively dislikes me.  She doesn't particularly want me to hold her though she will let me.  Good news though - she has turned to Sara a couple of times for comfort, which is a great sign!  Sara is able to communicate with her in Mandarin and I believe it has helped.  I'd best sign off now and try to get a few moments of sleep in case she wakes up once again and is still not happy with her situation!