Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Day Two with Grace!

Today was another very emotional day for us. We went to Kunming Children's Welfare Institute (the orphanage where Grace lived for 6 months). Here is what it looks like from the outside:

This visit was surprising great because we were told by so many people that the Kunming Orphanage is very tight lipped and won't give you any information and aren't very open to the adoptive families. We could not disagree more! We walked in and the Assistant Director sat us down, gave us tea and treats and then gave us a book all about the orphanage w/tons of photos in it (of course, its in Chinese, but the photos speak for themselves). We had mentioned to Jack (our Guide) that we were curious about the schedules of the girls and sure enough, the A.D. had them printed out in English the exact time of when Grace sleeps and when and what she eats during the day. Then since Sojo had a bad cough, and Grace had spots all over her that we were afraid were scabies, we mentioned this to the Asst. Director and she immediately fetched a doctor for us. Luckily, Grace only has "Kunming Red Spots" which apparently 80% of the babies in Kunming will get these spots over them when in the sun but it will go away after about 2 weeks. Very strange, but so so happy that we aren't dealing with Scabies. Here's Grace with the Doctor:

And with the Assistant Director:


We were allowed to tour the whole facility but we were not allowed to take any photos inside the orphanage itself. We were so amazed at how clean the whole place was. It was sparkling! We saw where Gracie slept and then the most incredible part of the tour was when we went into the infants play room. In this room, along with about 12 or so 4 month old babies, were the caretakers of Grace and Sojo (Sojo is the other baby who was just adopted by a couple in Shanghai who we have shared this whole process with). There were, I think, 6 young ladies who all of the sudden just burst out in excitement when we walked through the door. They remembered both Grace and Sojo and they took them right from us and were hugging and talking to them. I was introduced to the woman who used to carry Tianling (Grace) on her back every day. They said that they always referred to her as Tianling's mama. She took Grace and was holding her and I was crying big time. This is the woman who was a major part of caring for our daughter. We begged them to let us take a photo of her holding Grace, but it just isn't allowed. And to make it worse, THEY started taking photos of Grace and Sojo, but we still couldn't. Oh well, I remember clearly this woman and the look she had when she was holding Grace and I will pass that on to Grace the best that I can.

Here we are in front of the orphanage:

Also, while we were at the orphanage, a BIG WHIG was visiting and he came in to meet us. His name is Yin Jun and he is the Chairman of Yunnan Provincial Congress. He was very proud to be a great friend of President Bush (he told us this many times!). He was also kind enough to take a photo with us. The woman on the right in lab coat is the Director of the Orphanage. She was very kind, and told us that she helps us (by caring for our daughter for her first 7 months) and we help her (by taking care of Grace forever!). The other couple in the photo are Dale and Tara with Sojo.

This was an amazing start to the day. After the tour we went back to the hotel for lunch and a nap for Grace. We then went to her Finding Spot. She was found at Kunming Children's Hospital:


It was so interesting to look at the place where the faceless woman who gave birth to a newborn baby girl, but who was in such despair, had to give her up. I think she must have loved her very much to make sure that she left her at the Children's Hospital, knowing that she would be found quickly and immediately cared for. This woman, who gave Grace her life, and in so doing, gave us our third child, could have done what countless other woman in China do and abandoned her somewhere other than a hospital, or worse yet, taken the baby's life away from her. I thank God for guiding this poor woman to do what she thought was best for the baby that for whatever reason, she could not keep.

So that basically was our day...pretty emotional, wouldn't you say! Tomorrow we leave Kunming and return home to Zhuhai where two very very excited little siblings are waiting to meet their new baby sister, and two equally excited Grandparents are waiting to meet their newest grandchild. I will update more then. I apologize for the legnth of this blog, but there was just so much to share, and I am sure I missed something but will be sure to write it in later.

7 comments:

DisneyKim90 said...

Wow! I'm calling you on skype!

yarnophiliac said...

I'm bawling. How beautiful. Thank you.

Meecoux said...

Nikki and Todd- I am so happy you got so many wonderful memories on your second day with Grace!

I am in tears!!

Michele

Meecoux said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tara and Dale said...

nikki, thanks for sharing this whole beautiful, emotional experience with us. i love that we have these memories of grace and sojo in kunming together. also thanks for helping out the newbie parents. peace...

Tara and Dale said...

oops! didn't mean to leave todd out of the last comment--our thanks go out to you as well. :) hope the tierney family is settling in nicely. i think it's hilarious that nikki wrote to me at the exact time both girls were napping the other day.

momazon said...

TFS - I'm weeping with happiness for you all!

(Goodie)