It's all official

Yesterday was the day we met our daughter and sister. Today was the day she legally became a Hubers.

With our thumb prints in red ink stamped over our signatures, we sealed the deal that we claim and accept JiaYun as part of our family forever. What a privilege and great responsibility.

Four out of the seven in our family! 

TJ being a rock star big brother while Kevin and I are signing papers.

This morning at breakfast she ate well, but again wanted to be held continually. When we walked into breakfast, she saw a boy from her orphanage who was also joining a family. They are not with our agency and we didn't know they'd be here. And even in our same hotel! They are from Spain and brought their son also, who is about TJ's age. We saw them Sunday night when we were out for dinner, then Monday morning at breakfast, then at Civil Affairs the day we all met our children. Their little boy walked out of the same van that Josie did. So, on Tuesday morning, when the kids saw each other they pointed at each other and said each other's names with glee. I approached the family and used my broken Spanish to introduce myself. Their son had been very upset the day before and we had given them lots of space. At breakfast he seemed to be in better spirits. I am thankful Josie got to see a friend. I hope that normalizes her experience and gives her some sense of familiarity as she is accommodating to everything being new and different now.

Josie seemed to tolerate the van ride better today. After our adoption was final, we headed to the store to pick up a few things with our guide. What better way to celebrate an adoption than to buy diapers and a few more snacks. We also found a new pair of shoes for her as the ones she had were quite tight. She didn't want to be put down for the shoe fitting, so I was carrying her in the pack. TJ then took off her shoes while we were walking. She calmly said something to him. We asked our guide what is was and she laughed. She told us she said "Why are you touching my shoes?" It will be fun when we can begin to understand each other more. Until then, we do lots of facial expressions, gesturing and hand motions :) It's actually impressive to see how much you can communicate just using those things.

We also found out today we can go visit Josie's orphanage tomorrow! Our guide informed us last Sunday that the entire orphanage moved locations 3 months ago. I admit I was disappointed because I really wanted to see the place where she spent the first years of her life. As I am still disappointed, I am thankful they said it is on the way and we can drive by it at least. Hopefully we can get some good pictures to show her as she grows up.

It is so helpful to have the pictures to explain that all the people that cared for her are in favor of her coming to our home. Otherwise, there can be a confusion or potential misunderstanding that she has been taken. I was just re-reading one of my adoption books and it reminded me of the importance of talking about our children's story often and early. To bring it up, show pictures, give words to explain where they came from, how events unfolded, as best as we can explain. Hopefully sometime this year I'll be able to work on Josie's life book to help piece together all the information we have for her. But now, is the time to gather info and take pictures. Pray for our minds to be clear tomorrow and for Josie's heart to be at peace as she visits her 'home' for the last time.

As I type this Josie and Kevin are napping. TJ is being a super star by quietly reading a book or playing a few games on my phone. I asked him what we should do when we wake up, go for a walk? stay in the hotel to play? He said "Stay in the hotel. I want to play with Josie."

Well, turns out Dad needed more rest. So Josie, TJ and I started out to explore the streets of Nanjing. I'll be honest, it helped that we were in the same area as last time, so I had some sense of our bearings. It ended up being a super sweet time finding some neat rooftop adventures, riding the escalators and also stumbling across a little pet store with rabbits and hamsters to look at. Keep praying for Kevin's health. He's being a trooper, but he feels pretty miserable.

Josie is opening up more and more. I think I mentioned that Ben was a runner in the beginning. So far she has been the exact opposite. She either wants to be held or when we're walking she reaches out to hold our hand. I cannot tell you what a gift this is.  AND she slept through the night for the second night in a row. I feel a little like I'm dreaming. She seems to have a gentle spirit, with a bit of rock solid determination thrown in there. We're so excited to get to know her more.

Rooftop adventures in Nanjing. Photography by TJ.Hubers.

As a note, we are having some pretty consistent issues with connecting to the internet and sites such as the one I need to update this blog. So, if it's a while between posts, you'll know it's because of that. Until next time!