We walked into Shaanxi adoption office twenty-minutes late (we waited impatiently for our van driver at our hotel) and there she was. Smiling she walked into Monica's arms. A tear streaked her face from earlier but she put on a brave happy face. She is sweet, shy, and smiling as much as she can.
After many pictures and a few signatures, we got a stroller and headed back to our hotel. On the drive she erupted in a belly laugh when Chris pretended he was drinking the bottle of her new baby doll (that she loves). We all enjoyed playing with her back in the hotel room. We even got to have dinner with a friend from her orphanage. By the end of dinner, though, she was tired and done smiling.
Locked behind the smiles and occasional laugh there seems to be deep sadness, genuine curiosity, and sincere sweetness. We pray she feels free to cry and mourn. And to be honest with herself and us, about her fears and opinions. Monica let her choose whether to take a bath or not tonight and she chose not to. Hopefully tomorrow she will be more curious once our nerves are calmer. She has loved peeking into her suitcase to find more treasures, and she has followed her brothers around just to see what they're doing.
I (Monica) got teary tonight as Chris and I sang to her. We've been praying for her and thinking about her for 10 months, but her world has been turned upside down. It encouraged us that she had the toys we sent her earlier and our album, but knowing you have a family coming and the upheaval of actually being adopted are very different. We pray that she knows we don't expect perfection. We pray that she already senses that she is loved. She is so loved.