Market adventures

So, here in Nanning there is a market which my local friends refer to as the senior market. I have been there before many times, and in my silly confidence thought it would be something different to do with the girls. Um, forgot about the fact that my Mandarin skills are only at the toddler level, and I have a new little one who easily surpasses these skills. We get out of the cab, and Mia quickly spots a bagota. Mia loves food. It doesn't matter that she had two bags of M&Ms in the cab. And more food for breakfast than everyone else at the table combined. She knew that bagota meant food. We go over to it and she sees a vat of ramen noodles which she wants. Ok. We get the box. She then sees another one. I tell her bu yao (no), just one. She doesn't like that answer. Screaming starts. Peoples heads whip around. Kate and Lianna tell me "just get the second vat". In my mind, I thought I do not want her eating enough noodles for a family of 8 and tell them no way. Mia continues her screaming "wo yao" I want. People continue to wonder what things this crazy looking woman is doing to this adorable little child. Luckily her tantrums tend to be pretty short lived. She gave up on the second vat of noodles and asked for a lollipop. Sure. By now I know to pick my battles. Looking back I should have just bought the second vat, and given it secretly to someone else when she wasn't looking.
As we entered the market, we found a shoe stall. Next to food, Mia loves shoes. For $4.00 a pair, Mia picked out an adorable pink pair of shoes. Then a red one. Then a pair of sandles. Then a pair of "pleasant goat" baby shoes. Hmmm. Somehow we managed to get out of the shoe stall with only two pairs.
Next we stumble upon the book area. Lots of fun books. She sees the "pleasant goat" again. We buy a book. She asks for more but again I tell her only one in Mandarin. This time, no tantrum and one book.
As we make our way to the back of the market we hit a toy area which I didn't remember from previous years. We pick out one toy. She seems content. Until we pass a sticker stand. She screams "wo yao" (I want). I try to walk as fast as I can by it. Mia is too clever. She has object permanence skills and knows those stickers still existed behind us. I immediately think of all of the stickers we already have in our room. I think about the value of teaching her she cannot have everything she sees. Hmmm, the thought of this just makes me laugh. She has been with us for only 3 days. Next time, I think we will just get the stickers.
Despite these appropriate and expected meltdowns, Mia is doing very, very well. She has repeated her first english words "super" "halloweeen" (they have giant purple pumpkins around Nanning), "trick or treat", "go". This morning she said the girls' names. We are all smitten with this little one, whose favorite words are "wo yao", or "I want".

Three are now four!!!

We have our sweet Mia who is an absolutely precious little girl!! She arrived at our hotel at 11:00 am yesterday morning. She was initially very (appropriately) cautious and cried when it was time to go up to our room. Once upstairs, she liked playing with bubbles and exploring everything her big sisters wanted to show her. We got smiles from her pretty quickly, at first tiny glimpses and then big smiles especially when we brought her swimming. Mia is speaking in full Mandarin sentences, which makes it a bit challenging due to my toddler level Mandarin language skills. But we are both becoming pretty good at charades.
Mia only uses Mama for me. She appropriately calls all other females "ayi" (auntie) except for Nana who she calls appropriately "waipo" which is grandmother in Chinese. She calls both sisters "Jie Jie". Today, she is already repeating some English words. This little one is quite bright, and yes, little! She fits perfectly into 3t size clothes. She reminds me a lot of my friends' daughter who is from Guangdong and is also a petite little one. She likes to be carried, so being smaller with a petite mom works well.
She really is doing very well which is clearly due to being in foster care with Grace and Hope for Children. There is a sense of confidence that she has, and she clearly understands that people meet her needs. She has had a few quick tantrums which I have been expecting due to the language barrier and all that she has been through in the past 24 hours. She has really liked playing with play dough and markers. She's got a great appetite and doesn't seem too picky yet. All three of the girls didn't sleep too well last night which is likely due to the transition. There were lots of giggles, especially as Mia decided to bring toys to bed.
Today we spent the morning going through the official adoption procedure in Guangxi, and Mia is officially ours. In the past 24 hours my family of 3 has become a family of 4. I couldn't be any happier.

Ready

In two days we will be on our way to China. In some ways it seems hard to believe. Is it REALLY going to happen this time? It seems so! Everything is set. Travel approval in hand, consulate appointment confirmed, flights set. Bags (almost) packed. We are giddy with excitement. Four days from now, I will meet my youngest daughter!
How is it possible to have only known her photos for 6 months and to feel such immense love for her??!! And with that same love comes grief. Grief for what she is going to lose...her foster family, her language, her homeland. And yet, joy for what she is going to gain...a family who already cherishes her and a community who has been praying for her arrival.
And so, we are ready. Ready for what lies ahead. Ready to change our lives forever. Ready to bring sweet Mia home.

Role reversal

I am a helper by nature. I love helping others more than anything else. I think this is why I love being a parent and helping my children become the people they are meant to become. It is probably also why I love being a pediatric occupational therapist. If the families I am working with need something, I will make it a mission to get it. It is also why I have journeyed back to China each year to assist the orphanage staff with learning to care for the children with special needs in their care.
This year has been a special year for many reasons. One of them, is the unexpected gift of Mia. China had been closed to single parents. For years. There were/are over 1700 kids who are waiting for families in China. The simple fact that China reopened to singles in March, and I found Mia in April is really unbelievable. Miraculous. I wasn't actively looking for a third child. I wasn't prepared financially to adopt a third. But Mia, who is known to Grace and Hope for Children, and the Chinese national friends I partner with each year to do orphanage work, is to be mine. And of the 1700 kids, I was led to her. While working with my Chinese friend in one of the orphanages just 6 weeks ago, she smiled as she told me she has lots of things to share with me about Mia's story once she is adopted. But until then, she told me, just know that "God has chosen the right family for her".
And so, I am in the spot of needing help. We are scheduled to leave in a little over a week and I have to raise some funds. This will be our second trip to China in less than 90 days. My agency did everything possible to try to time it so that Mia could come home in September, when we last returned after our volunteer trip. It wasn't meant to be. I absolutely hate asking for help and had hoped I would not have to.
For any donation (there is a paypal and credit card donate link on this blog page) , we will hold a raffle for a new Monopoly Here and Now: China edition. This is not available in the US. The game is bilingual, in both Chinese and English.









And Mia will do the honor of selecting the raffle winner on November 12th, when we are home.

China, take 2

A month from today we will return to our beloved China to bring home sweet Mia. Although we had hoped that the adoption would have been possible after we finished with our Knowing Hope trip last month, it wasn't meant to be. What is meant to be is that sweet Mia will know the love and care of a family. Our family.

Inching forward

We've been in China now for several weeks as part of Knowing Hope's trip to help orphans with special needs and those caring for them. It's been an amazing trip, and I have learned many valuable lessons.
Our paperwork hit a bit of a snafu, although all seems to be coming slowly back on track...and because of hurricane Irene we are still here waiting.
We will likely travel back to Nanning later this week, in anticipation of receiving Mia in the next few weeks :)
Stay tuned!

Miracles

Today I experienced a miracle. My LOA, the next piece of paper in the trail of adoption papers, was received from China. The wait for this paper is often agonizing, with some waiting months and months.
My dossier left for China July 1, 2011. I was logged in a week later. To receive LOA today is nothing short of a miracle. One that I am eternally grateful for!!