GOTCHA DAY is what we are here for. It’s what we talk about with the other Americans. It’s the reason we mark off days on the calendar. And for us, our day is here.
We ate our usual breakfast down in the banquet room. I munched on a roll while Andi poked her bread and cheese with a fork. Like all of our joyful things here, they start off in some huge government building, signing papers. After breakfast we met our translator in the lobby, loaded into a van, and headed to just such a building. I signed documents that would start the process of Lilia’s passport.
We then went to the grocers to buy a cake for the orphanage workers, our way of saying “thank you”, and then headed to the orphanage. We were excited, yet cautious. How would Lilia react? When we got out of the van we saw Lilia through the fence, playing with her group. We went over to her and picked her up, she was all smiles, as where we. When we picked her up out of that play group, we ended her last play time with that group forever. We ended her life as an orphan. We would take her out of this familiar place. We went into the music room and changed her clothes. Lilia was familiar with the music room, so she started the “usual” routine. She crawled around and picked up a ball. How could I explain to her that she should take this time to look around, soak it all in, maybe even say goodbye to her favorite toy. But she had no idea what was coming. Her caretaker came in and kissed her and said bye, bye. She told us to take care of her and wished her good health. Then we gathered our things, and Lilia, and left. Our translator ran the video camera as we walked out of the orphanage. We had never seen Lilia cry, that is until we got to the car. She cried for a few minutes then just laid very close to Andi as we bumped down the rough roads. When we got out of the car at the hotel she looked around with her “I’m not happy face on”. I had to run off and purchase plane tickets for our flight to Moscow next Monday. Buying tickets felt so good. Lilia was fine once she got into the room. She smiled and laughed and enjoyed playing with the TV remote. First, we fed her, then we bathed her. Washing her is something we had wanted to do for a very long time, not that she was dirty, she just didn’t smell like a baby. Now she plays on our rug in the room. She is full of personality, and I find myself laughing a lot. She is a sweetie, and we can’t love her enough. Well, the real stories are about to begin. We treasure your prayers.
12 comments:
"Gotcha" FOR SURE!!!!!!! :)
Hello Proud new parents!! What a thrill it was to "walk" with you in your writings as you picked Lilia up from the orphanage to be yours forever! At the same time, I was vividly remembering our same exact moments of retrieving M from his "only life he knew before us". He reacted very similarly regarding the bit of crying as he left his place of familiarity. Like what you are experiencing, the hotel room was the place of wonderful memories and bonding and just having fun getting to know our new child and vise versa - no other responsibiliities but that most important one. :)
I'm sure you've read and have heard that the traveling home is one of many unknowns regarding how she will react. However she reacts, be assured it is a coping mechanism for the stress she's experiencing. For example, my sister's son didn't sleep a wink on the entire trip back, but was happy as a clam.....his reaction to stress. On the other hand, all M did was sleep practically the entire trip back with us!.....his reaction to stress as well. But, as much as I appreciated that senario (I could sleep more too!),the night before leaving his country, we had a flight delay which kept us stuck in the airport for the entire night!! He slept not a wink and pretty much "flipped out" right before boarding with much crying and coughing to the point of almost loosing his cookies. At that point, I was fearful that the entire 22 hour flight might be miserable. But, like I said, he slept most of the entire fight. Whew! So, be ready for anything, but know that this long flight (maybe ending up feeling like DAYS!) is a blink in time and you'll be home settling in before you know it!
K and M start school tomorrow, so we're just hanging out today. I sure do miss you guys! And, of course, I can't wait to meet L! As we were leaving church, yesterday, M wanted to know when C would come back since it seems to him like forever since he saw him last. :)
Love to you three and prayers continue your way. God speed!
Ellen
Happy "gotcha" day!
I know exactly what you mean about the "baby smell"- I really only give Nate a bath so he smells more like a baby again. :-)
What an eventful day! We had to say goodbye to our playmate cousins who are moving away and now we have a new covenant child in the family! Praise God that He adopted us so long ago!
Quick question- how is she getting along with daddy? I'm remembering another family where the newest member had some reservations about men, but I haven't heard anything like that about Lilia. We're praying for that bonding process to be swift and secure! Enjoy your new baby girl!
J&M
Welcome, Lilia!!! I'm in tears of happiness for ALL of Cope / MacLane family! You are one lucky little girl, Lilia Cope!
Jody, Charles, and Maria Saso
CONGRATULATIONS! I cannot wait to meet your new addition! I will keep your family in my prayers over the upcoming days, weeks, and months during this transition period.
Good news for sure. We did the drop and swap today with Caleb Cope. He and Granma Marie were getting sandwiches when we entered the food court at Mill's mall. We got food and ate a quick lunch together. Justin and Joshua were with us so we looked in the toy store. Caleb and Justin each got an annoying rubber dog that barks and the dogs barked at one another on the way home. Nona's boys just left and Caleb is settling in. Sarah is putting up his bed. I can tell he's had a great time with his papa and grammy, aunt CC, uncle Troy and cousin Silas. He glows with good health, and he's ready to see what we've got going on around here. I told him Mr. Matt and Katy are coming and he said, Oh good. It is stormy here, at long last. It's been dry. We will get over to your place to look at the grass this week. Jacob started highschool today. Maybe I already told you as I blogged this morning. Who can remember things that happened that long ago?
God bless you with Lilia. Everyone's life has changed now. It's all good.
Mother
Korinne, Hanna V. & I read this and could hardly contain the tears. We are so happy for you. Lilia is truly blessed to be part of your family.
How great is it that you have friends who have been through this before to give you words of wisdom!
We pray your first nights together and your trip home are wonderful!
Congratulations!!!!
Kris (for all the Lollars!)
Tears and more tears. I am seeing ddoouubbllee through them right now. I don't know who is going to be more blessed by this new addition - you or her! Please continue to blog so we can "be there with you."
1. What does L eat? Does she feed herself?
2. How did she like her first bath?
3. Did she sleep well her first night?
I am still in VA. Tomorrow we are having a girl's day out and going to get a massage and then kayak in the back bay. After that we will finish up with dinner at Q-doba. My host and hostess have never been there before! If they are like our two families, this will be the first of many trips there.
I better go, but give L a hug from Aunt CC and tell her I love her! A, give J an extra special hug from me... :)
OK...this is not Stevyn, it's Sonja. I'm just being lazy and posting under her account since she's here. How amazing to share this journey with you guys. I'm seeing "ddoouubbllee" with Stevyn :-) Your experience has greatly enriched us and given us courage as well. What a crazy ride it has been for you guys! I thank God for His provision for you, for blessing your family with another child and for redeeming the difficult moments before there was Lilia...and I know He'll see you through the coming adventure as well. Know that the Srays are covering you all in prayer! We send our love and are eager for you to get all settled so you can pass along your wisdom :-)
I know I spoke to you this morning and shared in some of your joy, but now, after reading Jonah's descriptions, I can't stop the tears from flowing as I think how different and blessed Lilia's life has become. This has been such a long process and we have all been praying for this very moment for almost 2 years. It's hard to realize that God has answered this prayer, but we shall continue to pray for all of you. What a wonderful blessing from our precious Lord!
It is so quiet here. D is in AR, CC & Sy are in Virginia, JT is at work, Cabe is gone to his other grandparents. I don't have to cook or answer that never ending question, " Grammy, can I play Play Station"? What shall I do to fill my hours for the next couple of days? Oh, I forgot. I still have the dogs, the cats, the chickens & the fish who get hungry and need some attention every now & then.
I am so anxious to hear every detail and to meet Little Miss Lilia. C. and D & I were trying to come up with nicknames for Lilia in the car on the way home from church yesterday. Some of Cabe's were very interesting.
Keep us posted about your progress.
We love you,
Mom
Wow! Wow! I have no reason to get on the computer except to read this post. I told A.--"Today is the day! I hope they've posted!" I'm giggly with excitement and trepidation--how will she do in the hotel? On the plane? In the everyday things? In other words, he same things I worry about when I am traveling with my kids. Happy "Gotcha Day!" Don't get too busy admiring her and playing with her to forget to post!
We miss you and look forward to "Coming Home" Day next!
Happy Gotcha Day!!!
OK, I wasn't going to post again, but your blog brought the tears so I just had to send our congratulations! It was exactly 7 weeks ago to the day that we took the same journey, on the same bumpy road to Baby Home #3. The first time we heard Abby cry was the moment we got in the van and just like Lilia, they were short lived and once in the hotel room, happiness ensued! You are on the home stretch and each day from here on out will be filled with so many firsts and so much happiness that the days will hopefully fly by! Thank you again for letting us "tag along" and relive truly what feels eerily like our story. (they were even almost the same age when we picked them up from the orphanage!). We couldn't be happier for the entire Cope family! I look forward to Abby and Lilia reuniting one day as most likely they were in the same play group.
Take care and I can't wait to hear you are home safe and sound!
Love,
Shari, Michael, Noah and Abby Keen
Praise the Lord! I just don't know what else to say. Thank you for sharing your joy with us. Enjoy this special time you have getting to know Lilia. She is a truly blessed little girl. I join John in rejoicing over a new covenant child in the family!
Praying for you -
Genie (for all of us)
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