As Joe and the boys got ready, I packed and repacked the sweet little Vera Bradley backpack that I'd picked out for Mary months earlier. I put in a sweet little doll, some stickers, The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book, some Gerber puffs, apple juice, a rattle, suckers, and some Cheerios.
I also put together the gifts for the nanny, social worker, orphanage teacher, and orphanage director that had cared for Mary since she was two months old.
Then, I WAITED while everyone else got ready.
Once everything was all set, we went down to breakfast. We STILL totally LONG for the breakfast buffet at the Shanghai Holiday Inn. As we sipped on our hot tea or delicious coffee and ate our croissants, omelets, Shanghai noodles, and fried rice, we sat there as a family of four and talked about what was about to happen. I was SO EXCITED, but also VERY nervous for our girl. I knew she was traveling and being taken from everything that she had ever known.... and although WE knew how GREAT we are (ha!)... SHE had no idea. And my heart was NERVOUS for her.
After breakfast, we went back up to the room where we straightened up and laid out things that we would need for her when we got back. Cause the next time we were to step into that hotel room.... just a couple of hours later.... we would be a family of FIVE. We would have THREE children. Good Grief.
We arranged and rearranged the room, laid out a couple of different outfits, pulled a few toys out, and WAITED some more.
At 9:00, we met our guide, Maggie, in the hotel lobby, hopped in our little white van, and made our way to a small conference room on the third floor of some random building in Shanghai. I kept thinking how ORDINARY the building looked. Nothing special. On a tiny little one-way street. THIS was where I would meet my daughter. It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen.
Last picture as a family of four!
I am delirious.
Wall across from the elevator.
Don't have a clue what that says....
but I figure it says something like,
"Mikki Powell, your life is about to get AWESOMER than it already is. Welcome."
We rode up the elevator and sat in that little conference room. And waited. SOME MORE. I organized my gifts, took out some of Mary's things and put them out on the table, gave the boys some last minute advice on how to get the best pictures.... and then Maggie - our guide who I could barely understand - said she thought they'd arrived.
And suddenly, in the doorway.... SHE WAS THERE. I remember hearing Joe literally GASP when they walked in. From where I was standing over on the side, I couldn't see them.... but he could. He and the boys caught a glimpse of her before I did..... so I scooted over and then they stepped into that little room..... Mary.... in that little yellow outfit with the orange shoes..... in the arms of a nanny..... and she kept looking at me. I know you think I'm making that up, BUT SHE DID.... maybe I was making faces at her or maybe I just looked like a happy crazy lady..... but either way, SHE WATCHED ME. And I NEVER took my eyes off her.
I don't understand Chinese, so I have no idea what was happening in the TEN YEARS that it took them to decide how things were going to go. I didn't want to charge at my new child and scare her to death, nor did I want to offend the orphanage workers, so I just stood there, smiling. And WAITING. Then, apparently, they all decided that it was time for the nanny to leave. And that she should give Mary TO HER MOTHER.
Yes. GIVE HER TO ME.
And she did.
Mary never cried, but you could tell she was not sure what was happening. She put her head on my shoulder immediately. She was TINY and SWEATING profusely. I wanted her to be at ease, so I offered her a baby doll and some juice. She wasn't interested. Joe was up to his eyeballs in even more paperwork, the boys were doing an AWESOME job of recording our memories, and I was intent on making my precious baby relax. So, I opened the puffs. I opened the GERBER PUFFS, and she perked up. She reached for one and another and another. Over a little tub of Gerber puffs, my little girl decided that she kinda liked me.
Within minutes, Mary and I were having a grand time. While Joe was accepting gifts from the orphanage folks and saying THANK YOU in Chinese a hundred times, Mary and I were reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I decorated my face with stickers and she kept looking at me and smiling. When we got out that huge diamond ring rattle thing and dropped it on the floor, we got our first LAUGH.
Once it was time for our official family photo, she was all smiles. She felt so relaxed in my arms and I knew we were going to be just fine.
We gathered our things and our THREE kids, went back down the elevator, and got back into our little white van to return to the hotel for the rest of the day. It was around 10:00 and our lives had changed forever.
That was ONE WHOLE YEAR ago.
I'm completely flabbergasted at the honor it is to parent this child. I am BEYOND THANKFUL that the Lord called us to adopt and that He placed Mary in our lives.
What a year it has been!
Here's a glimpse into the last twelve months......
A Year with Mary
Fun.
Hard.
Happy.
Blessed.
Exhausting.
Exciting.
Precious.
Messy.
Humbling.
Wild.
Sweet.
Designed by our Heavenly Father who knows each hair on our heads.... He knows WHAT we need.... He knows WHO we need..... and He orchestrates some very beautiful things.....
Today, we celebrate the day we met.
...... with cake
......with a present from China
...... and with LOTS of love!
Happy Gotcha Day, Mary Jewel Powell!
