Phil woke up at 5am, and was too excited to go back to sleep. He got caught up on all of the sports goings on back home (the Brewers won 8 straight - what???) and then I got up. Phil watched the MLB All-Star starter selection show (yay technology) and kept an eye on the USWNT world cup final. USA USA USA! It was fun to cheer them on and apparently it worked since they were up 4-0 in the first 16 minutes. We had a nice big breakfast at the hotel including Phil having a donut with sprinkles on behalf of the kids back home. Afterwards we went to the Starbucks attached to the hotel and got some coffee.
Phil went out and bought us some coke from a nearby shop. We got our outfits for the afternoon ready to go and the room tidied up.
To pass the time, we played a game of Rummy with Phil's Star Wars poster deck of cards. It was a back and forth game, and Phil won despite being out jokered about a billion to one (give or take). It was nice to have something to do to take our minds off of the endless possibilities of what the day would hold. We wanted to be sure to be as free of expectations as possible, and just enjoy the moments as they came.
We met Nancy in the lobby at 2pm and headed to the adoption office for our 2:30 appointment. When we pulled up, Nancy said we would be the first ones here because we were early. Phil asked me if I had my camera ready. I said no, I just put it away. But when he asked, I pulled it back out since last time I didn't have my camera ready for the first moment we saw Sammy in the lobby of the government building. I was trying to quickly get the camera out as Nancy walked up to a very regal red door and knocked a few times. A woman opened the door. I sensed right away that she was someone from the orphanage and not from the civil affairs office. As quickly as I could I started recording. Nancy said, Ok, she's here. There was a woman sitting on a bench with her back to us and as she spun around to see us while putting shoes on a little person, there was no mistaking that she was holding Jemma. She looked identical to her pictures. Nancy and another woman wanted to quickly clear up a discrepancy in Jemma's medical file before I could even say hi to Jemma. Nancy said they had made an error. I wanted to say WHO CARES WHAT THE FILE SAYS! I honestly was trying so hard to listen and be patient while they told me that it wasn't the left foot that had an issue but the right, but it really was inconsequential to me. I squatted down by Jemma and touched her hand and talked kindly to her. The woman holding her (the nanny supervisor it turns out) tried to hand her to me, but Jemma was scared of strangers and arched her back. I didn't want to take her yet, because I understood she didn't know me and couldn't just be passed off so I went to my bag and got cheerios and a set of toy keys. I went back to Jemma and gave her a cheerio and then the supervisor again tried to hand her to me. This time I knew I was armed and ready. Jemma was really upset to be handed off to a stranger and who could blame her. Phil and I were pleased with her response because developmentally she should be afraid of strangers and it means that she has the ability to attach and recognize that certain people ARE in fact strangers. So even though it was tough to see her upset, we felt a lot of peace with her reaction. My three biological children screamed when they were handed to me as well, so I don't take it personally.
I quickly sat in one of the chairs when I realized it would be difficult to hold Jemma in a comforting way when she was crying and arching her back the way she was. Once I sat with her, I showed her the cheerios again and put another one in her mouth. After a few bites, she settled into my lap and let me feed her. It was so fun! She loved playing with the toy keys, too. Nancy needed Phil to sign some papers for us to be her guardians for the "harmonious period" until her adoption is finalized tomorrow morning at 9am. After he finished signing, Nancy said I needed to sign so I told Phil I would give him Jemma. He said, do you think she'll come to me. I put her in his arms and you would have thought I handed the two of them the moon! It was a sight to behold! Instead of signing the papers right away, I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. I set the camera down to sign the guardian papers and Jemma put her arms around Daddy's neck and pressed her cheek against his face - oh my heart, it might burst! His face was priceless!!! He showed her how to shake her keys and she did it just like he did. He walked around the room with her a bit and then we were told we needed to take our family picture in the other room.
In a picture room right off the room we were in, there was a large red velvet back drop with two chairs pushed together to form a bench. Phil and I were told to sit down and hold Jemma up between us. As soon as Phil put her on his other side so that she was close to me again, she freaked. He tried a few times and of course all the women in the room were all talking at once to us in Chinese. Finally after a few tries, she must have realized that he wasn't giving her to me but just moving her a bit so she tolerated the picture BRIEFLY! Definitely not going to be a stellar photo for the official books, but it's fine. We understand! But the photographers take their job very seriously so they made sure all three of us were looking at the camera and no crying :)
After the picture, we gathered up our things and it was time to go. I loved it that Phil carried his baby girl out of the building and into the waiting van. As he was getting in, he passed her to me. She waited till he sat down next to me and so sweetly crawled into his lap. ADORABLE!!!
Next we went to the supermarket. I got a little dizzy in the parking garage. It is like driving a car down a spiral staircase at high speeds. We got out of the car and went inside. Nancy was on a mission and the more she talked and wanted us to be productive with our shopping, the more I started to sweat and shake and get nauseous! I told Phil I wasn't feeling so well. He was SO great. He was carrying Jemma and told Nancy that we first needed to get me a drink because I wasn't feeling well. She took us to the section with drinks and Phil found a v8splash type juice for me. Nancy said I could just open it and drink it right there. I did and it helped within a matter of minutes. I was able to enjoy the shopping after feeling better! We picked up diapers first - it was kind of a mistake to look at the size Jemma was wearing. I thought she'd be in size 3. But she was wearing a size XL in Huggies. Since that's what she was wearing, we decided to get that size. (Once we got back to the hotel to change her, we realized that size was WAY WAY WAY too big!!! We are just going to donate it to the orphanage and go back to get a smaller size.) We also got baby soap, a sippy cup, formula, and a bag of 3 ducky balls (Daddy needed a ball for the hotel room). Jemma LOVED being able to hold our supplies and the only way to get her to put it in the cart was to slip it out of her hands to let her hold a different item. She is very possessive! Phil found his favorite Coconut milk drinks and we also got gatorade and coke. We picked up the cookie puffs that Sammy liked and some saltine type crackers. I think Phil let Jemma carry a package of chocolates for him that we ended up buying as well.
After that, we attempted the kids clothing store a second time but it just wasn't what we were looking for and had very little selection. I was really hoping we'd go to Walmart to buy clothes because the little side stores for children's clothes seem so expensive! Maybe Nancy will let us shop there tomorrow.
After shopping, we put our stuff in the back of the van, oh and we got water, and drove back to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel, Jemma used her toy keys to suck on and then cover her eyes. She fell fast asleep in Daddy's arms. He carried her into our hotel room and laid her on the bed and she slept for a few hours there! When we walked into our room Nancy disgustedly asked us why the hotel hadn't cleaned our room...we explained that they did earlier that morning. LOL - we have a lot of stuff in a small hotel room with very little storage space - so not exactly sure what she was alarmed at. Everything was put away in bags - so it seemed ok to us. :) While Jemma slept, we prepared the paperwork for tomorrow and Phil and Nancy translated the notes from the orphanage about Jemma's schedule. Her daily schedule is IDENTICAL to our other children!!!
Jemma slept until after 7 and then I was able to make her a bottle! I loved feeding her the first bottle. She seemed like such a little baby. The first time the woman handed her to me in the civil affairs office, I put my hands under her little armpits and lifted her toward myself and it struck me how small her body felt in my arms in my hands. She is just SO precious!
After her nap, Phil took a turn to nap while Jemma and I played. It was hilarious! She was laughing so hard with the balls and playing catch! I got lots of video. Getting her to sleep last night was rough and she ended up crying herself to sleep after an hour of trying everything I could. She ended up finally asleep at 11pm.
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