Journey to Jemma: Day 5 - Adoption Day

Guest Blogger Daddy:  I’m filling in here for Mommy as she is giving Jemma a bath.  

We woke up around 6AM and started getting ready for the day.  The number and rank/status of people we are supposed to have gifts for seems rather fluid - so we keep having to re-arrange the gifts.  We were supposed to have the gifts for the three folks for the orphanage, the registrar and the notary ready for today.  But more on that later.

We went down to the breakfast buffet at 8AM.  Jemma was getting super hungry-so she was letting me hear about that while mommy was getting her congee, fruit and some french toast.  Once the food came she settled down.  I cut up watermelon for her into bite sizes since she really wanted to feed that to herself.  She liked the french toast (girl after dads heart/stomach).  We drew quite a few gazes from the other breakfast patrons - some more confused looking than others.  We finished up breakfast and Bethany headed upstairs with Jemma and I headed to Starbucks.  We were scheduled to meet Nancy at 8:40 to head to the office.  My phone was out of battery so I had it charging up in the room.  One thing about Nanjing - there are not clocks anywhere.  I haven’t seen one yet - ANYWHERE.  Not in the hotel room, not in stores, not anywhere.  I know giving clocks/watches as a gift is the equivalent of saying “you are going to die soon so here’s a little something for you to keep track.”  So maybe that’s it.

So as I was waiting for our Vanilla Lattes (hot) to be made I thought to check my receipt since that usually has the time on it.  Sure enough - it did.  And it said 08:41.  Well awesome.  I got the coffee’s and started to go to the room - and then realized I didn’t have a key - which is a big deal since you need a key to use the elevators.  Then I noticed Nancy was already in the lobby - which makes sense as it was 8:49 by that point.  Yes, I am an accountant - hence the accurate minute by minute here.  It’s genetic - blame my mom.  Anyway - I told Nancy my issue and she helped me get a new key.  They reset the key codes - since I had already received extra keys the day before when I lost one when I was changing money.  Really - it must be jet lag.  Usually I am the organized one.  I looked everywhere for that key.  I must have set it on the counter when I took out my wallet and never picked it up - because I looked all over the floors, all three elevator cars and the hallway to our room with no luck.  So keys have not been the best for me.  Wait - it gets better.  So I head up to the room and Bethany is finishing up the gifts and Jemma is still in her jammies.  I asked her if she knew what time it was and obviously she didn't because of the aforementioned lack of clocks in the city.  I told her 8:53 (I made good time getting the new keys) and she went into straight panic mode.  She couldn’t believe we were already 13 minutes late to the adoption finalization.  We hurried and grabbed all of our stuff and hurried to the elevators.  As I got there my stomach told me that getting on that elevator was not in my best interest - so I went back to the room as the girls went downstairs.  I started running out of the room at 8:59 as the room phone was ringing (no way I was answering that) and got to the lobby at 9:00 (again - blame the accounting genes) and saw the van out front with engines on and door open and ran in and shut the door.  Bethany asked Nancy if they would not let us adopt Jemma if we were late - not sure if she was seeking assurance, making a joke or what - but we were surprised when Nancy responded with simply “maybe” and then was on her phone.  So ya - not what Bethany was looking for there.  I told her it would be fine and to enjoy the ride - and she said ok even though I knew she didn't believe me all that much.  The orphanage director called as we were getting close to check on us (hey we have 5 kids - being anywhere with 20 minutes of the start time is impressive…and yes I realize 4 of our children are on the other side of the world…but still). 

We got there and were hurried to the registrar table.  It was no big deal - we got everything done.  The paperwork was drastically less than what we had to do for Sammy in a different province.  It went be really quick.  Just a few signatures in triplicate - a paragraph essay on why we wanted to adopt Jemma and then red ink right hand thumb prints over the signatures (Jemma got to do one too).  We handed our two gifts (remember registrar and notary) to the two folks and the table.  Then Nancy told us to go to another table to see the notary.  Notice the problem here?  We just gave out the notary gift.  Who was that other person?!?  Why were there two people?!? Ya - we are on fire this morning.  So much so that I didn’t even check the time to keep the play by play of this post up to date.  Flashback: When we were doing this for Sammy, there were two tables with two people at them.  A registrar and a notary at each.  Two families went at a time.  A gift for each one.  Easy.  Back to today: Ya so the gift situation remains fluid.  We moved over to the notary table (with no gift for her) and signed a couple things and she said congratulations and it was official!  Jemma was our daughter!  We got the adoption certificate and other papers we need for consulate appointment in Guangzhou and we were ready for taking pictures.

Side note: the second mystery person at the registrar table appears to have been a second registrar as the other guy left and she handled the process for the next family in line after us.

We had a chance to meet two families from other agencies that were there that morning.  Their children were from closer to Nanjing (or in Nanjing) so they had there “gotcha” in the morning yesterday.  Jemma had a three hour trip in so that is why we were in the afternoon (all by ourselves).  One family was from Hawaii living in California.  It was their first adoption and second child.  The other family is eerily similar to us.  His wife grew up in same town Bethany grew up in.  They have three biological children and this is their second adoption from China.  They know people Bethany’s family knows.  They are looking to move nearby our home once they get back.  Crazy how the Lord works these things out.  Of course we would meet them in Nanjing adopting our children, and not at the park at home, or Target or somewhere.

One of the guides for another family told our guide that Bethany looks like a movie star.  She was right.  My wife is amazingly beautiful.

After that we got in the van and headed to a wholesale market in search of clothes for Jemma that were more reasonably priced than what we saw the day before.  And we hit the jackpot.  We got several adorable outfits and jammies for her.  One of our favorite items we bought for Sammy was a cute little jacket that we got on Gotcha Day.  We love it - it is so perfectly Chinese and reminds us of our trip.  We wanted to be able to get several things that Jemma can wear this summer with a taste of home in it.

We came back to the hotel and tried to put Jemma down for a nap without success.  She wanted nothing to do with that idea.  The orphanage note made it sound like Jemma is a good sleeper and takes naps at specific times for specific durations.  I’m not seeing that in practice thus far.  We will keep loving on her and pray that she can sleep more easily.  I went and got us McDonald’s - after the morning we had I needed something familiar.  Jemma liked the french fries.  American Father points for me there.  Jemma had a bottle - and wanted to snuggle with me while she drank.  Great moment to attach and bond and reinforce that we will provide for her and love her.  After we ate I played with Jemma.  She loves to play with the three ducky balls that we got her.  I juggled them for her and she thought that was the funniest thing ever.  She found her dolly, and played with her.  She pretended to change her diaper.  I showed her how to rock a baby and she liked practicing that.  Later she gave her baby a bottle.  It was adorable.  Watching how she plays with the dolly gave me some insights into how the nannies cared for her.  She would pretend the dollies pants was a burp cloth and lay it across the dollies chest.  Then she would use it to wipe the dollies face.  So cute!  She really likes the stacking cups - although she gets really mad when she has them in the wrong order and they don’t fit together.  I showed her how to ask me for help instead of hit them and then throw them. 

We went out and explored the Confucius Temple market again.  We went down all sorts of alleys and saw tons of shops.  We stopped for a picture outside the ivory carving store, and a Chinese young lady ran up next to Bethany and had her friends take their picture together.  I told you she was a movie star.  We ventured around town a little bit and headed to a park where there is a good size pagoda.  It was a gorgeous day - about 85 and mostly sunny.  Bethany wore Jemma in the ergo and she finally slept for a while as we walked around.  We headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.  We went to Blue Frog for dinner.  We all had quesadillas - Jemma from the kids menu - and Bethany and I split a platter with Indian Beef, Mexican Chicken, and Shrimp.  The kids plates and cutlery were clearly from IKEA as we have about a million of those in our kitchen back home.  One of the male staff at the restaurant asked us if we were adopting.  I told him about our family.  He shared with us that he is expecting a baby at the end of July and that he hopes it is a girl.  We left and walked around the mall.  I had Jemma in the ergo in hopes that she would settle down and sleep again.  She did.  Bummer was that she needed a diaper change when we got back to our room and that sort of undid the magic.  We are praying that she can rest peacefully.  We have to get up early tomorrow.  Tomorrow is orphanage visit day - the most incomprehensible experience.  It is equal parts tragic and wonderful, heart wrenching and joyful, overwhelming and insightful.  Please pray for us as we go and that it can be a positive source of closure and assurance for Jemma - that she is ours forever.  Hopefully we can tour a bit of her home town.  Our guide was noncommittal about how much time we would have.  But we would really like to soak in as much of her previous home as we can.  It is a day to learn about and celebrate her heritage, her story.  We leave for the orphanage at 7:30 - and our guide made it clear that we shouldn’t be late.  Why would she think that?  Now where did I put that room key….