We woke up this morning with so much excitement as we looked forward to meeting our son today. We showered and went to breakfast. As we walked in the restaurant, I saw a FB friend of mine that I met through adoption FB groups. It was so great to meet her in person and we hugged each other and introduced our husbands and Alana. The adoption community is an incredible one to be a part of. These adoption groups have kept me going through this process because these are people that get it. She is with a different agency and told me her group was meeting for prayer and invited us to join them.
We had time to eat breakfast before meeting for prayer. This breakfast is much more westernized than Beijing. I took pictures of all three of our plates. I think it would surprise you to see which one is Alana's. She is really enjoying trying new things. Donuts were in the pastry section and Alana and I both got one. They were no Julie Darlings but were a small taste of home
After breakfast, we went back to the room to get some things together for the day, then left to go up to floor 20 to meet the group for prayer. We forgot that you have to swipe your room card on the elevator in order to get to your floor, so since we were on the 11th floor we couldn't get to the 20th. We had the privilege of walking the stairs 9 floors!
We met the group and someone played the song "Come To Me" by Bethel and it was exactly what I needed to hear. We then prayed together. It was a sweet time of praying for our families and for the children we were about to receive. I am so glad my friend invited us.
We knew we had to meet our guide in the lobby at 9:30 to work on paperwork. We thought she had told us that we would leave to get Aiden at noon. Thankfully we had already put our gifts together for the orphanage workers and packed Aiden's bag because when we got to the lobby, we realized we were leaving then. David ran back upstairs to get our things and Alana while I signed some documents. Our guide said we were going to the Civil Affairs office to do more paperwork. She did not say we were getting Aiden then.
Imagine our surprise when we walked into Civil Affairs at 10:00 and there was a room full of children and nannies! A room full of orphans who were about to meet their parents! A lady came over to me and asked if I was Bin Bin's Mama and I said yes. Then she pointed to him. I started trembling! It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. He was sitting on a training potty drinking a bottle of water and just staring at us. As I got closer, he pulled his bottle out and said, "Mama".
I have prayed that his nannies would prepare him for this moment and the Lord answered my prayers. He knew all three of us but didn't come to us. I pulled out some puffs and he ate a few. His Nannie, Daisy, (who spoke great English) began telling me many things about him. Thankfully, David kept recording while she talked because there is no way I was going to remember everything. She teared up many times while we talked. I knew she loved him very much, and I am so thankful he was so loved.
She kept apologizing for his need and that we would have a hard life. I kept assuring her that we had the best medical care ready for him and that made her feel better.
Aiden did not cry until his nannies took me to the bathroom to show me how to care for a terrible rash on his bottom. The next 10 minutes I will never get out of my mind. I know his nannies were doing what they thought was best for him, but the way they held Aiden while trying to clean him and put meds on him was tormenting him. He was screaming and reaching for me yelling Mama, Mama! I just wanted to grab him and take all of his pain away. Daisy handed him an action figure while he was crying. She told me that was Electro Man and that she tells Aiden a story that Electro Man came to earth to help Aiden be brave when he is sad.
After that, they gave him to me and this is when the inconsolable crying began. He then kept reaching for his nannies, and I began trying to distract him with toys and suckers and food. Nothing worked until I began singing Jesus Loves Me to him. He stopped immediately and put his head on my shoulder. It was a moment I will never forget.
When he caught a glimpse of his nannies, he began crying again so I walked outside to a fountain to try to distract him. David came outside to switch with me so that I could sign papers. While I signed papers, Aiden fell asleep on his daddy's shoulder.
While inside I just sat and watched all the different families with their new children. I became so overwhelmed with emotion. These children now have a hope and a future. They have a heritage. They are loved. They will know the love of their Heavenly Father. They are sons and daughters. . Adoption is a beautiful thing!
Aiden's nannies got our information and we got their email so we could give them updates. Daisy was having an especially hard time leaving him.
Some children come with nothing when they are adopted. Aiden came with more luggage than we will be able to take back. He has a hard shell piece of luggage (which we had gone to WalMart the night before to purchase one, but had decided to wait and find one cheaper) full of his clothes, diapers, and many other medical items. There are about 50 boxes of a cream in there. We will take that to our guide this morning to see what it is before using it on him. He had a duck backpack filled with his favorite snacks. He also had a small kangaroo backpack that had the photo book we had sent of our family with Alana's picture missing(Daisy said it got scratched), a photo album of pictures of Aiden from birth(remember when I was sad that I wouldn't have baby pics of him?), and a USB of more pics and letters they had written to Aiden. Those of you that have adopted know what a precious gift this was!
The time came for us to leave. I held Aiden, who tightly held Electro Man, and we boarded our van. I sat there on the drive back to our hotel trying to soak in all that he just happened. The Lord has blessed us with another precious child and our lives have been changed forever!