Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day 4 - A Few Pictures
We took Claire to Toys R Us and she picked out this jewelry. The necklace and ring light up and she loves wearing it!
Connor thinks Taiwan is A-OK! Seriously, he's having a great time. We asked him tonight if he liked it and he said "It's just like home except everyone looks different and the food is weird."
This afternoon Claire fell asleep in her carrier. Such a sweet little girl!
We spent the afternoon at the "Dream Mall" in Kaohsiung. It was a BLAST and on the roof is a huge outdoor carnival complete with a giant "Hello Kitty" Ferris Wheel. For $2.00 Connor got to climb inside this giant ball and bounce around in a pool. He thought it was awesome.
Proof that Greg is actually here. So far he's been the one behind the camera most of the time. This picture cracks us up... it looks like Connor's being punished. Go sit in your giant ball while I pose for this picture! Now! 
Mommy and Claire at the famous Taiwanese restaurant "TGI Fridays".
When signs in Taiwan are written in English, they're usually hilarious. This shop is supposed to be called "That Toy is Funny". You see how things turned out... 
At the Dream Mall, they have these giant panda bears you can ride. You get like a five minute ride for fifty cents and you can literally ride them all around the mall. They're on the fifth floor and everywhere you walk there are people coming and going riding on these giant pandas. They have a gas pedal and a forward / reverse switch. Connor LOVED these things. 
Seriously, they need to get these at West Towne Mall.
Mommy and Claire playing at a little playground we found in our hotel. 
More fun at the playground. It was a great day! We'll have some stories and observations on our daughter for you later. DAY 3 - A Family of Four
What an amazing day it was. The day our daughter finally became a part of her forever family. There is plenty to tell and not much time for me to tell it in so I'll get right to it!
We left Taipei at 9:00 and took the High Speed Rail to Kaohsiung City. The bullet train was amazing... crazy fast, very comfortable, and it gave us a great look at the Taiwanese countryside. It's amazing how in places it didn't really look all that different from something you might see in middle America only instead of fields of corn there were fields of rice. It was a great experience.
We didn't arrive in Kaohsiung until 11:00 and we were supposed to meet Claire for the first time at the hotel at only 11:20. All along we had imagined that we would be comfortably settled in our hotel room and there would be a knock at the door. We would open it and there she would be... our daughter.
That's not quite what happened. The foster mom and the social workers beat us to the hotel by a good 15 minutes so when we arrived they were walking around the shopping mall that is on the first level of our hotel (I'll tell you more about this hotel later... it's amazing). We were standing there with our social worker getting ready to go check in when we saw a group of people come around the corner and... there she was. We'll never forget that moment... the little girl out of all of the pictures was right there before our eyes. It took our breath away.
She was curious about us at first but VERY clingy to her foster mom. We all went up to the hotel room together. It was Jessica, Connor and I, our social worker Bernadette, two social workers from Kaohsiung, Claire, her foster mother, and also a boy and a girl who were in foster care with that mom as well. It was quite a crew we had packed into our room... good thing we sprang for the suite for these 2 days in Kaohsiung.
We got out some toys we had brought for Claire and she was really happy about that. She played with Connor and they were doing great while the grown ups talked. We asked the foster mother tons of questions through an interpreter. Mostly boring stuff about diapers, feeding schedules, sleeping schedules, and that sort of thing. Then it was time for the foster mom and the social workers to go. It was tough... the foster mom was a little bit emotional and Claire was a LOT emotional.
When the foster mom finally made it out the door, poor little Claire just lost it. She wailed and sobbed and thrashed and screamed. It was heartbreaking. She knew exactly what was happening as the foster mom had been preparing her. Through our interpreter she told us Claire was crying things like "You aren't my mama" and "I want my auntie". Over and over she went to the door and cried "I want to go look for my auntie".
The good news is that during this time she finally went to Jessica and let her try to comfort her. Jessica held her while she cried and finally after a couple of hours she was able to get her a little bit calm which was a good thing because right about then we had a visit from Claire's birth grandfather, her half-sister, and also her birth mother. We didn't know until that morning that we would be meeting the birth mother... we had been told all along that we would not. We're so glad that we did.
The details of that meeting will remain private... some parts of the story don't need to be spoken. All we'll say is that we're really glad we were able to meet the birth family and also that we were able to get some pictures and video. We think Claire will be grateful for that someday.
After the family left we said our goodbyes with our social worker and all of a sudden, after a whirlwind day of craziness, there we were. Alone in the room, a family of four, together.
The rest of the night was spent hanging out in the room at the hotel. Claire slowly started to come out of her shell a little bit and by the end of the night, we all had earned a few sweet little smiles. She is joined at the hip to Jessica and will not leave her sight. She is already calling her mama and seriously, if Jessica leaves the room, Claire freaks out immediately.
She absolutely LOVES Connor. She has been more affectionate with him than with anyone rubbing his hair and even giving him a couple of hugs.
As for me... well, she's not quite sure what to make of me so far. If she is the one to initiate a little bit of play, she'll tolerate me for a few minutes. If I try to talk to her or touch her though, she will push me away and sometimes even cry. This is not surprising to us at all... it is common in toddler adoption for the child to bond tightly to one parent and somewhat reject the other. All of the books we had read prepared us for this and we're alright with it. It hurts a little but hey, this isn't about me! This little girl had her world turned upside down... she can have all the time she needs. She'll be a daddy's girl before too long I'm sure.
All things considered, Claire did incredibly well on her first day. She ate like a champ (dinner was apples, bananas, cheese bread, and a little bit of a doughnut) and she let Jessica give her a bottle (Asian children tend to stay on formula until they are 2 or 3). She finally fell asleep around 10:30 and slept soundly until about 7:00 the next morning.
Sorry I don't have time to go into more detail... we have absolutely been spending every waking moment with Claire. We'll have much more to tell later and hopefully some video soon as well. I'm slowly working on editing it but I have to do it when Claire is asleep because if she hears her foster mom talking on the tape she cries for her.
Thank you all so much for the continued comments, emails, and prayers. They have meant the world to us.
Jessica and Claire with their matching bracelets.
Connor and Claire looking out our 56nd story window at the city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Claire had a very hard and emotional first day. As joyful as it was for us, it was scary and confusing for her. She is such a brave and resilient little girl.
Connor with Claire's half-sister. They are both six and hit it off immediately. Claire's and her sister look a lot alike... we're so glad to have some pictures!
Just moments after meeting Claire for the very first time.
Connor was so wonderful with her all day long. He is so excited to have a little sister and he has been unbelievably sweet. We are SO GLAD he came with us.
We left Taipei at 9:00 and took the High Speed Rail to Kaohsiung City. The bullet train was amazing... crazy fast, very comfortable, and it gave us a great look at the Taiwanese countryside. It's amazing how in places it didn't really look all that different from something you might see in middle America only instead of fields of corn there were fields of rice. It was a great experience.
We didn't arrive in Kaohsiung until 11:00 and we were supposed to meet Claire for the first time at the hotel at only 11:20. All along we had imagined that we would be comfortably settled in our hotel room and there would be a knock at the door. We would open it and there she would be... our daughter.
That's not quite what happened. The foster mom and the social workers beat us to the hotel by a good 15 minutes so when we arrived they were walking around the shopping mall that is on the first level of our hotel (I'll tell you more about this hotel later... it's amazing). We were standing there with our social worker getting ready to go check in when we saw a group of people come around the corner and... there she was. We'll never forget that moment... the little girl out of all of the pictures was right there before our eyes. It took our breath away.
She was curious about us at first but VERY clingy to her foster mom. We all went up to the hotel room together. It was Jessica, Connor and I, our social worker Bernadette, two social workers from Kaohsiung, Claire, her foster mother, and also a boy and a girl who were in foster care with that mom as well. It was quite a crew we had packed into our room... good thing we sprang for the suite for these 2 days in Kaohsiung.
We got out some toys we had brought for Claire and she was really happy about that. She played with Connor and they were doing great while the grown ups talked. We asked the foster mother tons of questions through an interpreter. Mostly boring stuff about diapers, feeding schedules, sleeping schedules, and that sort of thing. Then it was time for the foster mom and the social workers to go. It was tough... the foster mom was a little bit emotional and Claire was a LOT emotional.
When the foster mom finally made it out the door, poor little Claire just lost it. She wailed and sobbed and thrashed and screamed. It was heartbreaking. She knew exactly what was happening as the foster mom had been preparing her. Through our interpreter she told us Claire was crying things like "You aren't my mama" and "I want my auntie". Over and over she went to the door and cried "I want to go look for my auntie".
The good news is that during this time she finally went to Jessica and let her try to comfort her. Jessica held her while she cried and finally after a couple of hours she was able to get her a little bit calm which was a good thing because right about then we had a visit from Claire's birth grandfather, her half-sister, and also her birth mother. We didn't know until that morning that we would be meeting the birth mother... we had been told all along that we would not. We're so glad that we did.
The details of that meeting will remain private... some parts of the story don't need to be spoken. All we'll say is that we're really glad we were able to meet the birth family and also that we were able to get some pictures and video. We think Claire will be grateful for that someday.
After the family left we said our goodbyes with our social worker and all of a sudden, after a whirlwind day of craziness, there we were. Alone in the room, a family of four, together.
The rest of the night was spent hanging out in the room at the hotel. Claire slowly started to come out of her shell a little bit and by the end of the night, we all had earned a few sweet little smiles. She is joined at the hip to Jessica and will not leave her sight. She is already calling her mama and seriously, if Jessica leaves the room, Claire freaks out immediately.
She absolutely LOVES Connor. She has been more affectionate with him than with anyone rubbing his hair and even giving him a couple of hugs.
As for me... well, she's not quite sure what to make of me so far. If she is the one to initiate a little bit of play, she'll tolerate me for a few minutes. If I try to talk to her or touch her though, she will push me away and sometimes even cry. This is not surprising to us at all... it is common in toddler adoption for the child to bond tightly to one parent and somewhat reject the other. All of the books we had read prepared us for this and we're alright with it. It hurts a little but hey, this isn't about me! This little girl had her world turned upside down... she can have all the time she needs. She'll be a daddy's girl before too long I'm sure.
All things considered, Claire did incredibly well on her first day. She ate like a champ (dinner was apples, bananas, cheese bread, and a little bit of a doughnut) and she let Jessica give her a bottle (Asian children tend to stay on formula until they are 2 or 3). She finally fell asleep around 10:30 and slept soundly until about 7:00 the next morning.
Sorry I don't have time to go into more detail... we have absolutely been spending every waking moment with Claire. We'll have much more to tell later and hopefully some video soon as well. I'm slowly working on editing it but I have to do it when Claire is asleep because if she hears her foster mom talking on the tape she cries for her.
Thank you all so much for the continued comments, emails, and prayers. They have meant the world to us.
CLICK EACH PICTURE TO SEE A FULL SIZE VERSION
Jessica and Claire with their matching bracelets.
Connor and Claire looking out our 56nd story window at the city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Claire had a very hard and emotional first day. As joyful as it was for us, it was scary and confusing for her. She is such a brave and resilient little girl.
Connor with Claire's half-sister. They are both six and hit it off immediately. Claire's and her sister look a lot alike... we're so glad to have some pictures!
Just moments after meeting Claire for the very first time.
Connor was so wonderful with her all day long. He is so excited to have a little sister and he has been unbelievably sweet. We are SO GLAD he came with us. Saturday, February 6, 2010
Introducing our daughter, Claire Elizabeth Adkins
Today was an AMAZING day, full of wonder, joy, and tears. We will tell you all about it... there are so many stories to tell, but for now, we are going to bed. We are beyond exhausted. It's almost 11:00 here local time and Claire is still wide awake and we just haven't had much time to be around the computer. I intend to have a video online for you all to see tomorrow morning sometime (hopefully by Saturday night Eastern time) and we'll try to update the blog with the full story by then too.
Good night!
Friday, February 5, 2010
BREAKING NEWS!
Great news! We just received word that all of our paperwork has been finalized and we are clear to now come home on the 14th as originally planned! No $1000 airline fee! No living in a hotel for a month! Praise God!
And that's not all... Claire's birth mother has been missing for the past month or so. The social workers had been trying to find her to get one last document signed to ensure we would have no trouble getting Claire's Visa. Turns out that she finally came in to see the social worker and it looks like we have that final document too.
Even when we first received Claire's referral, we were told that we would not meet the birth mother. They told us that she did not want to meet us. In Taiwan most adoptive families meet their child's birth mother so this was a little bit unusual.
Well, we also just received word that Claire's birth mother will possibly be coming today to meet us! I have prayed so hard for this to happen. For us to be able to look her in the eyes and say "thank you" will mean so much... not to mention to have some pictures.
We're just hours away now from holding our daughter for the first time (7 hours and counting...) so please keep praying! We'll try to have a least a small update for you all by the time everyone on the east coast gets up Saturday morning.
And that's not all... Claire's birth mother has been missing for the past month or so. The social workers had been trying to find her to get one last document signed to ensure we would have no trouble getting Claire's Visa. Turns out that she finally came in to see the social worker and it looks like we have that final document too.
Even when we first received Claire's referral, we were told that we would not meet the birth mother. They told us that she did not want to meet us. In Taiwan most adoptive families meet their child's birth mother so this was a little bit unusual.
Well, we also just received word that Claire's birth mother will possibly be coming today to meet us! I have prayed so hard for this to happen. For us to be able to look her in the eyes and say "thank you" will mean so much... not to mention to have some pictures.
We're just hours away now from holding our daughter for the first time (7 hours and counting...) so please keep praying! We'll try to have a least a small update for you all by the time everyone on the east coast gets up Saturday morning.
Day 2 - An incredible day in four parts
Part One
For the first 18 months of Claire's life, she lived in a shelter called the Harmony Home. Today it was our privilege to spend most of the day with the children of Harmony Home and also with two amazing women who were Claire's primary caregivers while she lived there.
Hana is a missionary from the Philipines who is working here in Taipei at the home. She has been an amazing help to us as we've waited these past few months. She sent us an extremely detailed email a few months ago telling us everything she knew about Claire's birth mother…. these are details we never would have known if not for Hana. She also was quite obviously extremely fond of Claire.
Hana and Jessica talking at Harmony Home
Today she gave us a CD with close to 200 pictures of Claire we had never seen before. Some of the pictures look like they were taken when Claire was only about a month old. When I think of families who adopt from China and are lucky to receive 3 or 4 tiny little printed out pictures, having this many high quality digital pictures of our daughter's first year and a half of life are an incredible blessing. We are so thankful for Hana!
One of our new pictures - Claire sleeping at Harmony Home
In addition to Hana we also were able to spend a lot of time today with an incredible woman named Nicole. I heard two different people today refer to her as "The Mother Theresa of Taiwan" and I would have to say that I would agree with them. Let me explain why.
Part Two
In the 1980s Nicole had a friend who was infected with HIV. He was unable to find anyone who would provide him with help because at that time, people were still mostly ignorant of how HIV spread and everyone was afraid to be around him. Everyone except Nicole. She took him in and cared for him and pretty soon the word got out among those who were sick that there was a woman in town who would help them. People kept coming and Nicole kept helping and now, twenty-five years later, there are six Harmony Home shelters in Taiwan and over twenty in mainland China.
Nicole with Claire at Harmony Home
Part of our day today was spent with the children of Harmony Home at a street festival they were having in Taipei to celebrate Chinese New Year. Harmony Home sponsored a booth at this festival to help spread awareness about HIV and how it can be prevented. It was amazing to us to hear stories of how in most Asian countries, HIV is still something that is completely misunderstood and most people are terrified to be around those who are infected. Young people are uneducated on how to avoid contracting it… needles are shared between multiple drug users and from what we were told today, condoms are rarely used by anyone. It is very different from how things are today in the United States.
Let me answer for you now the question you're probably wondering. Yes, Claire's birth mother is HIV positive which is why Claire spent her first 18 months at the Harmony Home. It takes 18 months to confirm if a child born to an infected mother will be positive or negative. Claire was tested regularly over that time and at the end of 18 months was declared to be negative and completely healthy. Let me repeat that: Claire is completely healthy. We praise God every day for saving this precious child's life.
Because of the stigma attached to HIV in Taiwan, if it weren't for the Harmony home, these children would have nowhere else to go. We are grateful beyond words to Nicole for the incredible courage, compassion, and love she has shown over all these years. As a gift for us today, she made us an amazing collage of pictures of Claire with all of her friends from the shelter. It is so comforting to know that even though Claire hasn't been with us for these 2 and a half years, she has been loved and when she leaves Taiwan, there will be people who will remember her and miss her.
At the street festival with the children and volunteers of Harmony Home
Part Three
As wonderful as Hana and Nicole have been and as impressed as I was with both of them, I still haven't told you who made the biggest impression on me today. Let me tell you about one of the most interesting and inspiring people I have ever met. His name is Joseph.
Joseph was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an Italian father. He went to college at Stanford and then trained to be a plastic surgeon in Charleston, SC. He worked as a plastic surgeon in San Diego and eventually had a successful practice operating on celebrities who wanted to get away from the craziness of L.A. for their procedures. He didn't drop a lot of names but he did mention that he had done a procedure on Janet Jackson's butt. Seriously. I'm not making that up.
Eventually he became the primary plastic surgeon for Playboy magazine. Seriously. I'm not making that up either.
And then one day, Joseph realized that he was made for something better. He quit his job and moved to Taiwan. Even though Joseph couldn't be a day over 45, he is now officially retired.
Today I ate lunch with Joseph. We sat in tiny little chairs trying to squeeze our grown-up sized knees underneath a table made for toddlers. We ate simple food… rice, fried eggs, fish, and vegetables. We sat surrounded by children and all of them absolutely loved this man. He knew them all by name and knew the best parts of all of their personalities. He knew just what to do to make them laugh. He also knew their stories… where they had come from and where they were going. If it weren't for all of the paperwork involved he probably would have convinced us to adopt another 3 or 4 kids right there on the spot. Lord knows he tried.
Joseph is now a full-time volunteer for the Harmony home. He took the pile of money he made doing plastic surgery and now he travels all over Taiwan and China helping to spread awareness about HIV and raising funds for the work that they are doing. "In China, helping people with HIV is illegal" he told me. I asked him if the work he did there was dangerous. "Sure it is" he said. "They could beat me badly or even throw me in prison for the work I do but man, I don't even care. I'm not afraid." I was looking him in the eyes when he said it and he didn't blink and when he says he's not afraid, I believe him.
Oh yeah, and he's also an ordained minister.
It's not everyday that you come eye to eye with someone who is just completely filled with passion for what they are doing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people who love what they do, but this guy was just off the charts. He looked me in the eye and said "I would love to come to your church to talk to your parishioners and get them involved with the work we are doing." He wasn't joking either. He didn't care that we were from a place 28 hours away by plane clear on the other side of the world… all he cared about was finding an ear willing to listen to him talk about his passion. If I could guarantee him that, he said he was willing to come. Amazing.
Oh yeah, and he also does magic tricks. You can ask Connor.
Joseph and a little boy named Xi-Xi at the street festival
Part Three and a half
Something really funny that happened today: We were at the booth setup by Harmony Home at the street festival looking at the t-shirts they were selling when all of a sudden I hear Connor asking if he can have something. I look down to see him holding five individually wrapped rainbow colored condoms. "They're free dad" he said. "No son, I don't think so. Do you know what those are?" He looked at them. "No, but they're free!" Turns out Nicole had given them to Connor and told him they were free and then snuck away to watch us squirm from a distance. Jessica saw her across the crowd watching us and laughing her head off.
She may be the Mother Theresa of Taiwan but the woman has a great sense of humor. I'm all for sex education but not quite yet!
Part Four
So that was how we spent our day and what an amazing day it was. We will forever be grateful that we had the opportunity to get to know the people who loved Claire the most when she was little.
And now, it is time. Tomorrow morning we will get up early, eat a quick breakfast, and take a two hour train ride to the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung. We will take a taxi to our hotel and then, at 11:20 in the morning, Claire will finally be with us. We're full of more emotions than we could even begin to describe right now... certainly joy but also a little bit of fear if we're being honest. Tomorrow all four of our lives change forever.
I guess tomorrow we'll need to find a new name for the blog because in just over 14 hours, Our Journey to Claire will finally be over. What else is there to say?
We'll leave you for today with a few more pictures.
One side of the beautiful collage Nicole gave us today as a gift.
Do you think they would let us adopt more than one?
We had a great time playing ball with this handsome little guy.
Connor and Xi-Xi at Harmony Home
For the first 18 months of Claire's life, she lived in a shelter called the Harmony Home. Today it was our privilege to spend most of the day with the children of Harmony Home and also with two amazing women who were Claire's primary caregivers while she lived there.
Hana is a missionary from the Philipines who is working here in Taipei at the home. She has been an amazing help to us as we've waited these past few months. She sent us an extremely detailed email a few months ago telling us everything she knew about Claire's birth mother…. these are details we never would have known if not for Hana. She also was quite obviously extremely fond of Claire.
Hana and Jessica talking at Harmony Home
One of our new pictures - Claire sleeping at Harmony HomePart Two
In the 1980s Nicole had a friend who was infected with HIV. He was unable to find anyone who would provide him with help because at that time, people were still mostly ignorant of how HIV spread and everyone was afraid to be around him. Everyone except Nicole. She took him in and cared for him and pretty soon the word got out among those who were sick that there was a woman in town who would help them. People kept coming and Nicole kept helping and now, twenty-five years later, there are six Harmony Home shelters in Taiwan and over twenty in mainland China.
Nicole with Claire at Harmony HomePart of our day today was spent with the children of Harmony Home at a street festival they were having in Taipei to celebrate Chinese New Year. Harmony Home sponsored a booth at this festival to help spread awareness about HIV and how it can be prevented. It was amazing to us to hear stories of how in most Asian countries, HIV is still something that is completely misunderstood and most people are terrified to be around those who are infected. Young people are uneducated on how to avoid contracting it… needles are shared between multiple drug users and from what we were told today, condoms are rarely used by anyone. It is very different from how things are today in the United States.
Let me answer for you now the question you're probably wondering. Yes, Claire's birth mother is HIV positive which is why Claire spent her first 18 months at the Harmony Home. It takes 18 months to confirm if a child born to an infected mother will be positive or negative. Claire was tested regularly over that time and at the end of 18 months was declared to be negative and completely healthy. Let me repeat that: Claire is completely healthy. We praise God every day for saving this precious child's life.
Because of the stigma attached to HIV in Taiwan, if it weren't for the Harmony home, these children would have nowhere else to go. We are grateful beyond words to Nicole for the incredible courage, compassion, and love she has shown over all these years. As a gift for us today, she made us an amazing collage of pictures of Claire with all of her friends from the shelter. It is so comforting to know that even though Claire hasn't been with us for these 2 and a half years, she has been loved and when she leaves Taiwan, there will be people who will remember her and miss her.
At the street festival with the children and volunteers of Harmony HomePart Three
As wonderful as Hana and Nicole have been and as impressed as I was with both of them, I still haven't told you who made the biggest impression on me today. Let me tell you about one of the most interesting and inspiring people I have ever met. His name is Joseph.
Joseph was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an Italian father. He went to college at Stanford and then trained to be a plastic surgeon in Charleston, SC. He worked as a plastic surgeon in San Diego and eventually had a successful practice operating on celebrities who wanted to get away from the craziness of L.A. for their procedures. He didn't drop a lot of names but he did mention that he had done a procedure on Janet Jackson's butt. Seriously. I'm not making that up.
Eventually he became the primary plastic surgeon for Playboy magazine. Seriously. I'm not making that up either.
And then one day, Joseph realized that he was made for something better. He quit his job and moved to Taiwan. Even though Joseph couldn't be a day over 45, he is now officially retired.
Today I ate lunch with Joseph. We sat in tiny little chairs trying to squeeze our grown-up sized knees underneath a table made for toddlers. We ate simple food… rice, fried eggs, fish, and vegetables. We sat surrounded by children and all of them absolutely loved this man. He knew them all by name and knew the best parts of all of their personalities. He knew just what to do to make them laugh. He also knew their stories… where they had come from and where they were going. If it weren't for all of the paperwork involved he probably would have convinced us to adopt another 3 or 4 kids right there on the spot. Lord knows he tried.
Joseph is now a full-time volunteer for the Harmony home. He took the pile of money he made doing plastic surgery and now he travels all over Taiwan and China helping to spread awareness about HIV and raising funds for the work that they are doing. "In China, helping people with HIV is illegal" he told me. I asked him if the work he did there was dangerous. "Sure it is" he said. "They could beat me badly or even throw me in prison for the work I do but man, I don't even care. I'm not afraid." I was looking him in the eyes when he said it and he didn't blink and when he says he's not afraid, I believe him.
Oh yeah, and he's also an ordained minister.
It's not everyday that you come eye to eye with someone who is just completely filled with passion for what they are doing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people who love what they do, but this guy was just off the charts. He looked me in the eye and said "I would love to come to your church to talk to your parishioners and get them involved with the work we are doing." He wasn't joking either. He didn't care that we were from a place 28 hours away by plane clear on the other side of the world… all he cared about was finding an ear willing to listen to him talk about his passion. If I could guarantee him that, he said he was willing to come. Amazing.
Oh yeah, and he also does magic tricks. You can ask Connor.
Joseph and a little boy named Xi-Xi at the street festivalPart Three and a half
Something really funny that happened today: We were at the booth setup by Harmony Home at the street festival looking at the t-shirts they were selling when all of a sudden I hear Connor asking if he can have something. I look down to see him holding five individually wrapped rainbow colored condoms. "They're free dad" he said. "No son, I don't think so. Do you know what those are?" He looked at them. "No, but they're free!" Turns out Nicole had given them to Connor and told him they were free and then snuck away to watch us squirm from a distance. Jessica saw her across the crowd watching us and laughing her head off.
She may be the Mother Theresa of Taiwan but the woman has a great sense of humor. I'm all for sex education but not quite yet!
Part Four
So that was how we spent our day and what an amazing day it was. We will forever be grateful that we had the opportunity to get to know the people who loved Claire the most when she was little.
And now, it is time. Tomorrow morning we will get up early, eat a quick breakfast, and take a two hour train ride to the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung. We will take a taxi to our hotel and then, at 11:20 in the morning, Claire will finally be with us. We're full of more emotions than we could even begin to describe right now... certainly joy but also a little bit of fear if we're being honest. Tomorrow all four of our lives change forever.
I guess tomorrow we'll need to find a new name for the blog because in just over 14 hours, Our Journey to Claire will finally be over. What else is there to say?
We'll leave you for today with a few more pictures.
One side of the beautiful collage Nicole gave us today as a gift.
Do you think they would let us adopt more than one?
We had a great time playing ball with this handsome little guy.
Connor and Xi-Xi at Harmony Home
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Day 1.5 - Jet Lag and Why we Don't Know When We're Coming Home
Greg here...
It's 5:30 in the morning and Connor and Jessica are sound asleep. My eyes popped open somewhere around 4:00 and I tried to go back to sleep but it just wasn't happening so here I am, wide awake talking to you guys. I hope you don't mind.
The first time we visited Taiwan last year I figured jet lag would be no big deal... I've always been a person who could get by on just a few hours of sleep so I was confident that I could deal with it rather easily. Wrong. Jet lag is my daddy. I'm hopeful that it will be better this time but I guess the fact that I'm wide awake while everyone else sleeps isn't a good sign.
Anyway, I wanted to let everyone know when we hope to be home and also to let you know why we might not be on that flight. As of right now, we are scheduled to return to Knoxville at 10:45 AM on Sunday morning, February 14th. Unfortunately, one of our documents that we need to leave the country has not cleared the court system yet. We are praying hard that happens by no later than next Friday the 12th because if it does not come in, we will not be able to be home on the 14th as we originally had planned.
So you're probably thinking "okay, so if it doesn't come in on Friday the 12th, you can get it Monday the 15th and come home right after that." That's what we thought also but as luck would have it, the next week is Chinese New Year, the biggest holiday in Taiwan and the court systems are closed for a solid week. So, if our documents aren't in by the 12th, we would be here AT BEST for an additional 10 days and quite possibly another 14-17 days which would mean we would be in Taiwan for nearly a month.
We love it here in Taiwan, we really do. It is quite possibly my favorite place on earth other than Knoxville, Tennessee. Still, being here for a month is not something we really need to do right now. Connor needs to be in school, I have a job I need to get home to, and most importantly, I only brought 12 pairs of boxer briefs!
Of course there's a bright side... if we do end up having to stay we will get to enjoy the holiday season here in Taipei. I'm sure we will experience some amazing things, learn even more about this wonderful country, and having the extra time with Claire in her homeland would be special and something we would remember forever. Like I said before, we really do like it here and it will probably be a long time before we'll be able to come back. There would certainly be worse places to be stuck!
Unfortunately, an extra 2 weeks means an extra giant pile of cash we can't really afford. If we have to reschedule our flights there will be a $1000 fee and then on top of that we'll have another 2 weeks worth of hotel expenses. Taipei is a city the size of Chicago or New York and the hotels are more expensive than they are back home. Ten days we can afford... a month not so much. My wallet hurts just thinking about it!
So that's where we stand... a lot of uncertainty. If you're the praying type, please pray that our documents come in immediately. It could literally be anyday so why not today! Once that hurdle is cleared, we will most likely have smooth sailing and should be able to return home as scheduled on the 14th.
Whatever happens, we have a feeling of peace in our hearts knowing that the same God who knew Claire before she was born and then led our family on this amazing journey to find her also has a plan to bring us all back home together. In the grand scheme of things, if that is February 14th or 28th doesn't really matter all that much and we'll be alright either way. Still, pray for the 14th!
It's 5:30 in the morning and Connor and Jessica are sound asleep. My eyes popped open somewhere around 4:00 and I tried to go back to sleep but it just wasn't happening so here I am, wide awake talking to you guys. I hope you don't mind.
The first time we visited Taiwan last year I figured jet lag would be no big deal... I've always been a person who could get by on just a few hours of sleep so I was confident that I could deal with it rather easily. Wrong. Jet lag is my daddy. I'm hopeful that it will be better this time but I guess the fact that I'm wide awake while everyone else sleeps isn't a good sign.
Anyway, I wanted to let everyone know when we hope to be home and also to let you know why we might not be on that flight. As of right now, we are scheduled to return to Knoxville at 10:45 AM on Sunday morning, February 14th. Unfortunately, one of our documents that we need to leave the country has not cleared the court system yet. We are praying hard that happens by no later than next Friday the 12th because if it does not come in, we will not be able to be home on the 14th as we originally had planned.
So you're probably thinking "okay, so if it doesn't come in on Friday the 12th, you can get it Monday the 15th and come home right after that." That's what we thought also but as luck would have it, the next week is Chinese New Year, the biggest holiday in Taiwan and the court systems are closed for a solid week. So, if our documents aren't in by the 12th, we would be here AT BEST for an additional 10 days and quite possibly another 14-17 days which would mean we would be in Taiwan for nearly a month.
We love it here in Taiwan, we really do. It is quite possibly my favorite place on earth other than Knoxville, Tennessee. Still, being here for a month is not something we really need to do right now. Connor needs to be in school, I have a job I need to get home to, and most importantly, I only brought 12 pairs of boxer briefs!
Of course there's a bright side... if we do end up having to stay we will get to enjoy the holiday season here in Taipei. I'm sure we will experience some amazing things, learn even more about this wonderful country, and having the extra time with Claire in her homeland would be special and something we would remember forever. Like I said before, we really do like it here and it will probably be a long time before we'll be able to come back. There would certainly be worse places to be stuck!
Unfortunately, an extra 2 weeks means an extra giant pile of cash we can't really afford. If we have to reschedule our flights there will be a $1000 fee and then on top of that we'll have another 2 weeks worth of hotel expenses. Taipei is a city the size of Chicago or New York and the hotels are more expensive than they are back home. Ten days we can afford... a month not so much. My wallet hurts just thinking about it!
So that's where we stand... a lot of uncertainty. If you're the praying type, please pray that our documents come in immediately. It could literally be anyday so why not today! Once that hurdle is cleared, we will most likely have smooth sailing and should be able to return home as scheduled on the 14th.
Whatever happens, we have a feeling of peace in our hearts knowing that the same God who knew Claire before she was born and then led our family on this amazing journey to find her also has a plan to bring us all back home together. In the grand scheme of things, if that is February 14th or 28th doesn't really matter all that much and we'll be alright either way. Still, pray for the 14th!
DAY 1 - We are in Taiwan!
There's nothing much to report at this point other than that we are here in Taipei. We left Knoxville at 7:10 Wednesday morning and now 28 hours later, here we are. I'm not gonna lie... it's as long as it sounds!
The good news is that our trip was exactly what we had prayed for... uneventful. All of our flights were on time, our luggage arrived in one piece, and best of all our son Connor was WONDERFUL! He didn't say "Are we there yet" even one time! He slept a good bit of the way and the rest of the time he played his DS (thanks Nana and Grandaddy for the new games) and watched movies. Even on our longest flight (14 hours from Detroit to Tokyo) he was great. That was a major answered prayer!
Connor made a friend at the Tokyo airport while we were waiting to board our flight. Connor was just chatting away with a little Taiwanese boy and we just assumed that the boy didn't speak English but it turned out he did. He and his mom were from Ohio coming home to visit family. I'm not sure what they were talking about but as we left Connor said to him "What are you talking about man, you can't be allergic to movies!" I wish I had heard the beginning of that conversation!
We're off to bed... it's almost midnight right now and we are getting up bright and early to visit the Harmony Home orphanage where Claire lived for the first 18 months of her life. We're very excited to get the chance to see this place and to meet her caretakers there. We have exchanged several emails with Claire's primary caregiver while she was at the orphanage and it is obvious that she loves Claire very much. She has been incredibly helpful sharing details about Claire's story up until now. We're thrilled to have the chance to meet her.
We haven't even taken our cameras out of the case at this point but starting tomorrow, we'll hope to have pictures and video fairly regularly for you all to enjoy.
Goodnight from Taiwan!
The good news is that our trip was exactly what we had prayed for... uneventful. All of our flights were on time, our luggage arrived in one piece, and best of all our son Connor was WONDERFUL! He didn't say "Are we there yet" even one time! He slept a good bit of the way and the rest of the time he played his DS (thanks Nana and Grandaddy for the new games) and watched movies. Even on our longest flight (14 hours from Detroit to Tokyo) he was great. That was a major answered prayer!
Connor made a friend at the Tokyo airport while we were waiting to board our flight. Connor was just chatting away with a little Taiwanese boy and we just assumed that the boy didn't speak English but it turned out he did. He and his mom were from Ohio coming home to visit family. I'm not sure what they were talking about but as we left Connor said to him "What are you talking about man, you can't be allergic to movies!" I wish I had heard the beginning of that conversation!
We're off to bed... it's almost midnight right now and we are getting up bright and early to visit the Harmony Home orphanage where Claire lived for the first 18 months of her life. We're very excited to get the chance to see this place and to meet her caretakers there. We have exchanged several emails with Claire's primary caregiver while she was at the orphanage and it is obvious that she loves Claire very much. She has been incredibly helpful sharing details about Claire's story up until now. We're thrilled to have the chance to meet her.
We haven't even taken our cameras out of the case at this point but starting tomorrow, we'll hope to have pictures and video fairly regularly for you all to enjoy.
Goodnight from Taiwan!
Friday, January 15, 2010
What do I say?
We found out today that while we are in Taiwan we are going to meet Claire's maternal grandfather. Her birth mother does not wish to meet us and has had some fairly serious legal problems. In fact, as of right now the social workers do not even know where she is. I was very surprised in light of that to find out that the grandfather has requested to meet with us and that meeting will happen in our hotel on Saturday, February 6th.
Claire has two half sisters and this man has custody of one of them. We do not know if he will bring her with him to the meeting but we are hopeful.
I've been thinking today of what it is we should say to this man to set his mind at ease. I imagine he wants to meet us to have a chance to say goodbye to his grand-daughter who he will most likely never see again. What a moment that will be... I cannot imagine. I feel the need to have some idea of what I want to say to him before we meet... something that will put his mind at ease... something that will give him comfort that little Hsiang-Ting (Claire) is going to be alright in her new life. Something to let him know that we are kind and loving and that we are going to do everything in our power to give this little girl a wonderful life. I hope he will believe us and go away from our meeting with at least a little bit of peace.
We know next to nothing about this man. We know that Claire's birth mother asked him to take Claire and he told her he could not afford to take one more child. Putting Claire up for international adoption was his idea and Claire's birth mother agreed to it. We owe this man an incredible debt of gratitude. He probably does not speak English and even though I can say "Thank You" in Mandarin (thanks to Ni Hao Kai-Lan) somehow I know that won't even begin to be enough.
Even though I will probably be anxious about this meeting right up until the moment it happens, I am so grateful we are going to have this opportunity.
I think of Connor's early life... In my iPhoto library on my laptop I have over 3000 pictures from just his first 3 years alone. We have pictures of Connor with all of his family, including some who have since passed away. Every picture is a treasure. Those of you with children understand this. With Claire though, it's different. We have 20 pictures from a day in October when a social worker took her to a playground. We have about 10 pictures from a day in April where she played in a park for a little while. We have about 20 pictures taken at random times during her 2nd year of life while she was living in the orphanage... and that's it. No pictures of her birth mother, grandparents, siblings, or friends. Not one. This might be our only chance to have a picture of her with her birth family. What a treasure that will be for her someday.
Claire has two half sisters and this man has custody of one of them. We do not know if he will bring her with him to the meeting but we are hopeful.
I've been thinking today of what it is we should say to this man to set his mind at ease. I imagine he wants to meet us to have a chance to say goodbye to his grand-daughter who he will most likely never see again. What a moment that will be... I cannot imagine. I feel the need to have some idea of what I want to say to him before we meet... something that will put his mind at ease... something that will give him comfort that little Hsiang-Ting (Claire) is going to be alright in her new life. Something to let him know that we are kind and loving and that we are going to do everything in our power to give this little girl a wonderful life. I hope he will believe us and go away from our meeting with at least a little bit of peace.
We know next to nothing about this man. We know that Claire's birth mother asked him to take Claire and he told her he could not afford to take one more child. Putting Claire up for international adoption was his idea and Claire's birth mother agreed to it. We owe this man an incredible debt of gratitude. He probably does not speak English and even though I can say "Thank You" in Mandarin (thanks to Ni Hao Kai-Lan) somehow I know that won't even begin to be enough.
Even though I will probably be anxious about this meeting right up until the moment it happens, I am so grateful we are going to have this opportunity.
I think of Connor's early life... In my iPhoto library on my laptop I have over 3000 pictures from just his first 3 years alone. We have pictures of Connor with all of his family, including some who have since passed away. Every picture is a treasure. Those of you with children understand this. With Claire though, it's different. We have 20 pictures from a day in October when a social worker took her to a playground. We have about 10 pictures from a day in April where she played in a park for a little while. We have about 20 pictures taken at random times during her 2nd year of life while she was living in the orphanage... and that's it. No pictures of her birth mother, grandparents, siblings, or friends. Not one. This might be our only chance to have a picture of her with her birth family. What a treasure that will be for her someday.
Friday, January 1, 2010
We Got the Call!!!
After months of waiting we finally received the call that we've been waiting for this afternoon. We can travel to Taiwan and pick up our daughter the 2nd week of February! We will most likely leave from Knoxville on Wednesday, February 3rd and we will finally hold our daughter in our arms for the first time on Monday morning, February 8th. We're hoping to be home the following weekend... hopefully on Saturday morning.
We are absolutely overjoyed! It's been more than 2 years since we began this journey and now it's finally coming to an end. I'll be honest... I'm ready for this journey to be over so a new one can begin! The best is most certainly yet to come.
We'll have more updates later but for now we have a to-do list a mile long... so much to do before we leave! Plane tickets to buy, hotel rooms to book, a very pink room to put the finishing touches on, and a whole bunch of paperwork to get in order!
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this blog... all of the encouraging words have meant a lot to us. It's been really comforting to know that we haven't been waiting alone.
We are absolutely overjoyed! It's been more than 2 years since we began this journey and now it's finally coming to an end. I'll be honest... I'm ready for this journey to be over so a new one can begin! The best is most certainly yet to come.
We'll have more updates later but for now we have a to-do list a mile long... so much to do before we leave! Plane tickets to buy, hotel rooms to book, a very pink room to put the finishing touches on, and a whole bunch of paperwork to get in order!
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this blog... all of the encouraging words have meant a lot to us. It's been really comforting to know that we haven't been waiting alone.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
6 Months!
On Friday, we reached the 6 month point since referral. Still no news on travel. Still no news on what in the world is going on. We do know that as of a couple weeks ago, our first ruling hadn't even been issued and we had court back in October. We also know that two families who had court the same day as us are traveling to pick up their little ones at the end of this week, which every time I think about is like getting sucker punched right in the stomach. To say we're stressed, sad, and frustrated does not at all put into words what we are feeling. We had so hoped to have our little girl home by the end of the year when we got the referral. When we realized that wasn't going to happen, we just prayed that we would have news of when we could bring her home by the end of the year. Looks like that won't happen either. Christmas is our very favorite time of year, but this year we all feel a hole. We know that is because our family will not all be together this Christmas. It's even harder because this time last year we were getting ready to leave for Taiwan. It's just an overload of what we're missing. We could really use your prayers over the next few days!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
My Little Fred Astaire
Here is Connor dancing with his friend last night at the Kindergarten dance. He loves to dance, just like his momma! Maybe we should get these two on "So You Think You Can Dance."
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thankful
As far as we know, Claire's first court date went okay. We haven't heard anything back, and we've been holding our breath praying they don't request any additional paperwork. It's still looking like February or March until we travel. I have to admit that the past five months have been about a million times harder than the past two years. Over the course of the process, I have always justified the delay in completing our family by saying God was just waiting for the perfect little girl to come along. Well, now we have been matched, we know who she is, and I just don't understand why it's taking so long to get her home. It's so beyond my control, but I'm not taking it well at all. It's been really hard on me for the past few months managing a stressful job, a son in school, keeping up with my house, going back for my Ed.S, and going through the emotions of trying to complete Claire's adoption. I cry all the time when I'm alone because I miss her so much even though I've never met her. I feel so incomplete.
Despite all of the hardships lately, I am so completely thankful for my sweet and beautiful son who brings a smile to my face every day! Yesterday we were on the way back home back from the grocery store and we were talking about syllables in words. We were naming Thanksgiving words, and he would clap out the syllables. We were having a fun little drive (yes, this is fun to us...yes, I am in education...can you tell?) and I said the word "thankful." After telling me there were two syllables, he named everything he was thankful for.
Here is Connor's list almost word for word as best as I can remember it. I wrote it down as soon as I got home:
I'm Thankful For....
1. Mommy and Daddy. They love me.
2. My family. I love them so much.
3. Toys! They're fun!
4. My friends who play with me.
5. Food. I'm never hungry....well sometimes I get hungry, but I just get food.
6. The nice people I meet. I like when people smile at me.
7. I'm glad we can be free. People in other countries can't be their own boss.
8. The beautiful world where I can run and play, be a super hero, climb in my tree and sit there, and just look around.
He's five and he blows me away! I have no idea what if anything we've done to raise a son with such an incredible heart, but he definitely has one sweet little soul! I love him so much and I am so thankful for my sweet, sweet boy!
Friday, October 9, 2009
First Court Date Scheduled
We received word today that our first court date is scheduled for October 26th. This was bittersweet news as we were told we would not know where we were in the court process, and by our timeline we assumed we had already had at least our first hearing. We were crushed because it has been our prayer to have her home before the end of the year, and now that will not happen. We most likely will wait another 3 months to travel, possibly more. However, we felt blessed to finally receive some news! Please, please pray for us on October 26th. Pray that the courts do not request any additional paperwork, which would delay us even more!
The past four months have been grueling. I look at my daughter's face every day, many times a day. I know who she is. I know where she is. They won't let me get to her. It's completely out of my hands. I cannot even begin to describe to you how hard this process has been. This has been the longest and most challenging journey of our lives. I know it will all be worth it, and some day we'll finally gain hindsight, but today in the midst of it all, we are feeling sad and helpless. Please say a prayer for us and most of all Claire. Pray for a miracle!!!
The past four months have been grueling. I look at my daughter's face every day, many times a day. I know who she is. I know where she is. They won't let me get to her. It's completely out of my hands. I cannot even begin to describe to you how hard this process has been. This has been the longest and most challenging journey of our lives. I know it will all be worth it, and some day we'll finally gain hindsight, but today in the midst of it all, we are feeling sad and helpless. Please say a prayer for us and most of all Claire. Pray for a miracle!!!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Adoption Shirts!
Our best friends the Watsons are in the middle of their third adoption. They have two domestically adopted children, and are now in the process of adopting an infant boy from Ethiopia. They are selling adoption t-shirts to help them raise money to bring Silas home! Please check out their adoption blog AND the link to the site for their t-shirts. They are only $10 and super cute!
The Watson's Adoption Blog
Adoption Shirts
Another wonderful opportunity to support adoption!
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