Tuesday, December 4, 2012
DAY NINE WITH OUR DAUGHTER AND THE U.S. CONSULATE APPOINTMENT

Since our US Consulate appointment was for 0830, we started this morning very early. This was no problem, as Mommy and Daddy planned ahead. Yesterday we shorted her lap and put her to sleep early. She was asleep by 1900. We woke her up at 0615, completed our morning routine with smiles and were at breakfast by 0710. Hurrah!

Michael met us at 0730 and we headed to the US Consulate appointment. It took about 45 minutes to get there and all the way Mei-Li was happily sitting in Mommy’s lap watching all the movement outside. Since the appointment was only an hour, we decided to leave the heavy diaper bag in the car. This decision leads us our parenting lesson of the day:

(19) Never! Never ever go to an appointment without your diaper bagJ

Remember we already learned that Mei-Li does not like a wet diaper, will guess what we had to deal with, without any clean diapers on us…Yes, a wet diaper! To add to this problem, Mei-Li Chinese last name given her is Wang. The Consulate was calling families up in alphabet order by their child’s last name. We were the second to last one to be called. The saving grace was Daddy’s sense of humor and his survival skills by strategically placing a few crackers in a napkin at breakfast. We rationed them out while we were at the window. Oh to add to the agony, the lady behind the counter was training a new person so it took extra-long and cracker rationing was getting critical. Finally, after a long while, we were finished and the last to leave.

After we returned to the car, we changed her diaper and life was good. We were off to see her orphanage. The orphanage is in Dongguan, which is about 45-50 drive from Guangzhou. Again, Mei-Li loves riding in the car. She actually got about a 20 minute nap in before we arrived at the orphanage.

We were met by one of the orphanage’s directors. Michael was our interpreter. The orphanage is very clean and the staff appears to be very caring and protective of the children. Michael told us that this orphanage is one of the best ones in China. After seeing it, we can believe it. It houses 250 children and remains full most of the time. The director told us they adopt out about 10% of the children. Wow, that’s seems like a low percentage, however Michael stated that is actually a high percentage for China. The director stated that the floor above us was the floor for the children that are considered non-adoptable and severely disabled. We were not allowed on that floor. I thought of Naomi – I would suspect she was on one of these floors. I do not want to think about the possible condition or care provided to these kids that are considered non-adoptable. Our heart breaks thinking about it. However we did see some children with severe disabilities on the floor we were on. They appeared to be happy and healthy, so maybe this orphanage is different than Naomi’s orphanage. Mei-Li’s “house” was not in the main building. It was an apartment-like building alongside the main building. This orphanage organized and puts the younger children into family like setting. They put 2-3 care givers into an apartment like setting with about 10 children. They set up a family environment for the children to be brought up in a loving type of environment. Around 3 years old they are moved to the main building in more of an orphanage setting that we traditional think about. We got the opportunity to talk to Mei-Li’s caregivers! They told us all things that we have learned this week:

1. She loves to eat. No duh. Daddy says she is a Chinese staubsauger:).

2. She is definitely obstinate. Daddy says DOH! did they have to be so right on their assessment

3. She cries at bedtime, love to put a towel over her head – it appears to comfort her. Daddy will buy her a beach towel :)

4. She loves TV…definitely Daddy’s little girl.

5. She loves all kinds of music and even dances to it. This we knew. God gave us a word of knowledge from two people the night we prayed for Mei-Li in Germany. She loves dance…let her dance. Yes we will!

6. She is hot blooded and sweats a lot. NO feetie pajamas! The three pair we brought will be donated to the orphanage.

Although, we knew the answers before asking, we had to ask if they knew anything about her birthparents. Obviously, they did not. I asked if where Mei-Li finding place was a common place for children to be left. We were surprised to hear, no. So, maybe Mei-Li’s birthmother was young and did know the common places that are used as finding places (e.g. hospitals, clinics). Mei-Li’s “finding area” is an industrial/factory section of the city. We suspect her parents work in one of the many factories on that road in Dongguan. This is a familiar area with high traffic and high visibility. We have to believe that her birth mother wanted her to be found quickly and maybe even was in eyeshot when it happened. Factory area, Daddy says this could explain her good eye-hand coordination:). Daddy seems to think her parents worked on the iPad assembly line because she is so good at swiping and clicking:).

She was eerily quiet during the orphanage visit. She did not even acknowledge her caregivers. In fact, when I put her down in the same room she spent her first two years, she wanted up. Maybe she thought we were leaving her. She has definitely separated from the orphanage. This is good news!!

One our way back we stopped at McDonalds, Michael’s choice, not ours! The manager gave Mei-Li a little ice cream cone. She did not like it. Probably the first time she has ever had ice cream and probably does not like the cold food. We will have to try again in the summer time. Again Mei-Li enjoyed the car ride. (I pray she will also act this way on the plane ride – please start praying for this) -- :)

After arriving back at the hotel, we played and then it was time for a nap.

During her nap is when we learned that Uncle Frank entered the presence of the Lord! We know in our heart the angles are rejoicing as another one is God children has come home. But this does not easy the grieve we feel for loss of connection with our Uncle. It looks like we will be heading about on Thursday with the funeral on Monday. We are so thankful we will be home in time to be with family. Keep Aunt Concetta and her daughters, Enza, Christina, Marisa and son Nick in prayer. They are putting the funeral arrangement together while grieving the loss of husband and father.

Mommy and Daddy thoughts: All the events over the past two weeks and now with the loss of Uncle Frank, how can we live without God and Family? I can’t! Life is not always easy, I can’t image living without God. I know that we all have a day that will be our last one on earth. The blessed hope I have is that I know Jesus as my savior and I know I can live today, face tomorrow and not worry about my last day. This is my faith in my risen savior. Just as the apostle Paul said, “to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.” That is a firm AMEN!

Our heart’s desire is that all our friends and family know this truth. So when that day comes, it will not be a “goodbye” but an “Auf Wiedersehen” (which mean “until we meet again”). I thank God Uncle Frank knew Jesus as his savior. So, we say, we love you and Auf Wiedersehen, Uncle Frank – until we met in heaven! Say hi to Pop, Aunt Josie, Nonna and Vivian all are with Jesus now and tell them all about Mei-Li. And that is a firm AMEN!

Tomorrow is a day off. This is our day to prepare for our flight home. :) Michael will met us at 1700 at the hotel to give us all our US immigration documents and Mei-Li Chinese passports.

“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith, not by sight...”  ~2 Corinthians 5.6-7 NASB