March 3, 2005

3/3/05

We took the oath today! Somewhere between 20 and 30 American families gathered in a small, very hot room at the U.S. Consulate this morning to “promise that all the information on our forms is correct…” Now all we have to do is fly back to the U.S., check in through the New Immigration line at U.S. Customs, and she’s officially a citizen of our great nation! Wow! Can you believe it? We’re almost done and almost home.

This afternoon we shopped more. That has become our favorite past time in Guangzhou. Sonya bought about 10 pairs of squeaky shoes for Katie Lin (at least one of every size until age three or so). I bought a new North Face jacket and an MP3 player (thanks to some spending money given to me by my maw-in-law). The boys continued to load up on Chinese trinkets and souvenirs. Oh yeah, we’ve had to buy TWO new suitcases since being here to get all this stuff home. It’s worth it though. Who knows if we’ll ever have the chance to come back to China? Might as well get it while we can.

When we returned to the hotel we all met at the red sofa on the second floor to snap the traditional group pictures. Sorry, you’ll have to wait until later to see these. The girls are all wearing new traditional Chinese outfits and many of us don’t want to spoil the surprise before we get home.

After filling up on Tai food for dinner again, we headed back to the hotel to settle down for the night. This is my first chance to actually sit down at the computer since this morning. I’m not even sure if I’ll have an opportunity to post tomorrow. So just in case, I need to ask a favor of all of you who are planning on meeting us at the airport. Please understand that babies who have been in orphanages or foster care environments sometimes have issues with bonding and attachment. It is for this reason that adoptive parents are encouraged to not let anyone hold the baby, other than immediate family, for around six months or so after coming home (of course this varies depending on the child). We are respecting and following that advice. So, please don't take it personally, it is just the best thing at this time for Katie Lin. Thanks for your understanding.

Wow! I can’t believe it is our last full night in China. These posts have been a great outlet for me. I will miss writing to all of you on a daily basis. As you can tell, I love to express my feelings and I want everyone to experience what we are experiencing as accurately as possible. Hopefully, I will have time for one more post tomorrow, but if not I will try to follow up with a few thoughts and some pictures after we return home. Thanks for taking this journey with us.

Jeff, Sonya, Drew, Ben, Katie Lin and Grandmother


To answer your question, we do get a lot more attention now that we have Katie Lin. For the most part, the Chinese people are very supportive of Americans adopting these little orphans from China. They say things like, "lucky baby" and "she will be very happy." I've also heard comments in the past from the Chinese about being ashamed and/or losing face because of the fact that so many children are being abandoned and we (foreigners) are having to rescue these kids from such an environment.

The older women particular tend to serve as the "China Baby Clothes Police" and they are very protective of these babies. They all think we don't bundle them up enough, although I truly believe if we put 16 layers of clothing on these children it still would not satisfy them. This was cute at first, but to be honest it is REALLY getting on my nerves now. Just 15 minutes ago in the lobby downstairs two Chinese women very rudely told me that I didn't have enough clothes on KL, I very quickly responded by telling them I was not going outside, but returning to my room upstairs. I need to be a little more patient when confronted like this, it's just a cultural thing to bundle their babies up like little Eskimo children. Up until this last confrontation, I had been under complete control and trying to remind Sonya not to get upset about this, especially since most of the time these women are very kind about how they tell us to clothe our babies. I guess the attitude of these two women just rubbed me the wrong way. Oh well, pray that I will be a good witness to these people and love them unconditionally.

We will bring her by to visit as soon as we're able.

Jeff

3/3/05 (p.m.)

Two more days!!! Yes, that’s right! In exactly 48 hours our flight will take off from Guangzhou headed to the U.S.A. When we land in L.A., Katie Lin will be a United States Citizen. All of her paperwork was approved today. All we have to do now is visit the U.S. Consulate tomorrow and take an oath. That’s the easy part.

Our little sleeping beauty was quite restless last night and woke up fussy this morning. She sounded a little stuffy and was pulling at her ear a bit so we were concerned that she might be getting sick, but after a good breakfast and nice long nap she was back to her sweet self. Several of the parents who traveled here with us said their little girls didn’t sleep well either. It could have been the new environment.

The highlight of my day was Sonya going shopping with my mom and the boys while I stayed with KL. Can you believe she left me alone with her? Oh, did I mention it was while she was napping? Oh well, I’ll take what I can get.

We ate lunch at the little coffee shop outside the hotel again (fried rice, of course) and then headed to the pearl market with our guide, Lily, and the rest of the Lifeline group. She really knows pearls. She can distinguish between poor and excellent quality a lot better than I can (which isn’t saying much). We also visited a small CD/DVD store where you can get music and movies really cheap. I’m not sure about the quality or how long they’ll last, but so far so good!

Our evening was relatively uneventful. We just relaxed and enjoyed playing with KL. She continues to improve in her ability to sit up. Who knows, she may be jogging by the time we get back to Huntsville. Another thing we’ve noticed is her ability to jibber-jabber more and more. We have no idea what she’s saying but it always sounds like mama and dada to us.

She’s really part of the family now. She has really bonded well. I’m sure it will take a few months or longer for reality to set in for her and for us, but there’s no doubt that she’s our little girl. I remember filling out the paperwork for the adoption early last year and answering questions about our ability to love a child who was not born to us biologically. Even though I was confident in my desire to do so, in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but wonder if I really could love someone that much. I can now say that that has not been a problem. To be honest I haven’t really thought about it that much. I can’t think of a time when I have not loved this little girl. Even before I saw her picture, I knew this was a God-ordained thing. Katie Lin is just as much a part of this family as Drew and Ben. It just so happens they were born into our family biologically while KL was born to us via adoption.

We are so thankful for her and love her so much. When you all see her I’m sure you will too.

Jeff, Sonya, Drew, Ben, Katie Lin and Grandmother