It's all in the details....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Okay..so for those of you who like details...here they are. For those of you who don't, all you have to know is that this first 12 hours have been a God send. Truly better than we expected. We didn't expect that they would give us her hearing aids...and while they don't fit perfectly, it is nice to have them and she is more comfortable wearing them.

For the detail people - here we go.
Rob and I landed in Fuzhou after two hectic days of touring in Beijing. In Beijing, we were running the entire time...saw and did everything...exhausting but very exciting. In Fuzhou, we look forward to a more relaxing time with Molly. We landed around noon and were met by our guide in Fuzhou, Katherine. She is awesome. After a quick stop at the local grocery store where Rob and I received many curious, but friendly stares, we checked in.

Once we arrived at the hotel we had a few minutes to get all of our stuff ready...video camera, camera, paperwork, gifts for the officials ready. They arranged to bring Molly to the hotel and we were scheduled to get her at 3:15 on the 18th floor. Mary, my MUCH OLDER sister and our MUCH YOUNGER friend Darla (a speech pathologist) were already in Fuzhou and we had our loud American reunion right there in the lobby of the hotel. Darla brought a book with pictures of basic survival signs for Molly...toilet, eat, drink, and most importantly..CANDY. This book has been tremendous and a major first step on our road to being able to communicate.

Around 3:15 we all met in the lobby and Katherine led us up to the 18th floor. There was only one other family that was getting their child that day and we arrived at different times. We did some preliminary paperwork basically stating that we are honored to adopt a child from China, that we will always love Molly, and that we will never abandon her. Then we signed a temporary custody agreement that will be in effect until we finalize the adoption.




The adoption officials thought it would be a good idea for Molly to have her picture taken prior to the hand off and that way she would be calm for her photo. While we sat kind of hiding in a lounge next to the room we got our first glimpse of her as she was escorted off the elevator and taken into the room for her photo.

The orphanage is careful to select escorts that Molly does not know which makes it easier during the transfer. A few moments later Katherine came into the lounge...yes, that's right, we basically had our third child in a hotel bar and walked up to Rob to hand her over. Okay, white women are rare in Fuzhou....white men are even harder to come by....and tall light haired white men are non existent, so the initial hand off to dad was a little much for our girl.









What happened next can only be described as a miracle - I swooped in and she came to me...with very few tears while she continued to check out the rather handsome white guy beaming at her from ear to ear. We walked back in for more paperwork and were able to meet with the orphanage director and give her our gifts and the cleft palate nursers we brought with us from the states. She seemed VERY VERY appreciative of the bottles for any of you out there about to travel and want to bring something to the orphanage. I ordered ours at Meade.com I believe.

I digress.

We spent the next 20 minutes or so finishing up some paperwork and I just held on to Molly while she checked everything out. The foster family sent her album that we gave her, the doll, and returned the disposable cameras we sent..all which appear to be used. I cant wait to get home and get them developed! It should give us a nice glimpse of Molly's home life prior to us bringing her home. We also found out that the foster family has received another child since Molly was removed from the home and while they are sad, are happy that Molly will have a better life.

We made our way back to our hotel room and slowly over the next few hours, our girl started slowly coming out of her shell. She knew that if I put her on the toilet that she should try to go...so the kid is potty trained quite well. We played with bubbles and she was obsessed with the magnetix toys we brought. I don't think, however, she seemed more happy than when she had her first french fry and her first taste of spaghetti with sauce. She really started to loosen up and we started getting some guarded smiles. About 8:00 we gave her a bath which she also LOOOVED and put her in her new PJ's. I put her in her bed...she crawled into the covers..held on to her new teddy bear ( she has no interest in the doll we had sent her a few months ago) and she fell asleep...but...are you ready for this...not before she reached out for my hand! She has been sleeping with her foster mom from what I have been told...but if that doesnt make you want to thank God...well, than I dont know what to tell you!

To my surprise, not only did we get the clothes she was wearing...but her hearing aids as well. She was dressed in two sweaters, a pair of pants, socks, shoes, and underneath all of that was a pair of pajamas and her underwear. The hearing aids are not the greatest fit...but from what we can tell she prefers to wear them. So it is great that the foster family was able to get her accustomed to the aids prior to us sweeping in and taking her home. The Hear Center in Birmingham will evaluate the aids and if they are not working as they should, will give her a new pair.

Oh...and we also gave her the first chocolate she has ever had. Obviously...that was a hit!

It has been truly the most phenomenal experience and without Mary and Darla here it would have been so much harder. Rob, who is nursing a fairly intense headache from either the food or the stress of being handed a human being to take home, has been a trooper as his daughter gets accustomed to his face. Tomorrow we have more paperwork and then the rest of the time is ours. We have trips to the Zoo planned as well as paddle boats and some more shopping.

I cant thank all of you enough for all the prayers and support! Keep it up as we still have another 10 days here in the country. We are enjoying China and look forward to coming home!

Oh... a few more random details. Molly was EXTREMELY well cared for. She is tiny..but healthy. Her name was given to her by the doctor on duty they day they found her. Zhu coming from the fact that she was born in the year of the Pig..nice..and Mi is for honey....because they want her to have a sweet life.