Day 13 Ready to be home...yesterday

We are tired. Adoption is hard. We are ready to be home...yesterday.

The desire to adopt stemmed from God's calling for our family. The excitement of this trip was real. The pictures you have seen are genuine, the real deal. He has remained faithful and gone before us every step of the way. However, all that doesn't take away from how hard it is.

When we adopted Liam it was hard for different reasons. He was so small, so needy and depended on us for everything. Adopting a self-sufficient and highly spirited 3 year old is a different story. When she has pitched a fit I try to remember that however I am feeling, she must be feeling exponentially more fear and anxiety. I am the grown up. I am the one who understands the big picture. I am the one calling the shots. I am the one who knows what tomorrow will look like as best as anyone can. She, however, has to try to trust someone she has known 11 days of her life. How can she even start to trust us or anyone for that matter.

Children in China find their way to the orphanage through abandonment. There is no social worker who tries to help the family work things out. Parents who desire life for their child but are unable to provide it, will usually abandon their child in a public place so that the probability of being found is increased. The trauma that must cause is more than we can imagine. However, we can't ignore it because we are experiencing the consequences of it first hand.

Now factor in the language barrier. Trying to communicate with any 3 year old can present it's challenges. However, trying to understand and anticipate the needs of a 33 inch Mandarin speaking child is harder than we could have guessed. There is a comfort in the silence that comes with someone you know well. We are a far way from that.

Today was our last official hurdle; the day that this entire trip revolved around...our consulate appointment. We spent the rest of the day on Shamian Island and enjoyed strolling around the pretty streets. Tomorrow (Friday)we will sit in wait of receiving Kinley's golden ticket to the good ole' U.S. of A. It is set to be picked up around 3:30 pm and we are outta here on a 5:33 train to Hong Kong! After another night overseas we will board a plane (Saturday) for 15 more hours (with a 33 inch non English-speaking, highly spirited 3 year old) before we return to Chicago. Somehow with the time change we will land about the same time we took off??? Something like 108 hours, give or take, we will return home Saturday evening to St. Louis to begin the rest of our lives.

When we left China the last time, we had suspected there was a chance we would be back to adopt again. As we prepare to leave this time we are anticipating it will be a final farewell. If Kinley were first and Liam second, I know we would be saying the same thing. This mama is smart enough to know there is only so much of us grown ups to go around. That plus the fact we have a van that only seats 7!

Thanks for your prayers and support as we prepared for this adventure and as we begin the next chapter. I understand the blog wasn't very cooperative about allowing comments but we certainly felt your prayers and well wishes. Enjoy the final pictures from Guangzhou.

Love,
Paige, Steve, Jenna, Liam and Kinley
(Lauren and Ryan holding it together at home)

Sights around our hotel; Blowing bubbles by the Koi pond, a beautiful waterfall and a pretty Chinese mural (moments later the 2 littles got scolded in Chinese for going under and behind the red velvet rope)



Some of the beautiful statues on Shamian Island. Kinley's immediate response to seeing this was to go up and slap the dog on the head. I am not sure whether this applies to all dogs (sorry Max and Toby) or just Pugs (sorry in advance to Gracie!!)
The 'Lucy's' picture is just for our dear friend Mike Arnold; "thinking of you"!!!



Not certain whether Kinley thought these little statues of children were real?? She was enamored with this little boy carefully examining his nose, his fingertips and his arms. She then offered her silly bandz and when he didn't reach for it she stepped closer and finally put it on him herself. She was probably thinking what an ungrateful little person. Liam, of course, followed her lead and offered his bandz as well.