Home, Sweet Home!

Sorry I didn't post the pics when I said I was going to, but here they are now. We had a really rough last night in Taiwan. The last day was wonderful, but when it came to saying goodbye to our guide we had quite a surprise. I knew my little one could have a problem with tearing up and missing people, but I expected this more when we left the orphanage. She did very well then and managed not to cry, but when it came to her last night in her home country with people that speak her home language, our daughter was very hard to comfort. This all hit as we said goodbye to our guide, Rosa. This wasn't merely quiet tears like when we hosted her. This was a full on outraged fit. She was screaming and crying for Rosa, who was indeed very wonderful and became like family to us while we were there, but I think she came to represent all of Taiwan and all that our little one has ever known. I felt terrible! I think the whole hotel could hear her screaming for Rosa. I tried to hold her and comfort her, but she just kept trying to break away and run for the door.

After maybe half an hour, she calmed down enough for me to communicate with her over the google translator. I tried to tell her that I understood her fears on leaving her home country and moving to a country she doesn't know with a whole new people and language to learn. I told her that I loved Taiwan, too, and could see why she would miss it. I told her we would try to come back to visit sometime. I told her that it would take time for her to feel entirely comfortable with us and that that was OK, but that I would try to be the best mommy I could be and help her. I told her about all the family and friends who already love her and are excited to meet her back in the US. I told her that I loved Rosa, too, and maybe we could have her as our guide again when we come back to visit Taiwan. All this seemed to finally calm her down, and we ended the evening with our usual hugs and smiles.

The next day at the airport, she was happy again and singing "Winnie the Pooh" as best she could. We repeated the same dialog over and over. She would say, "Zie Jian, Rosa. Zie, Jian Taiwan," and I would reply, "Bye-bye Rosa. Bye-bye Taiwan. I love Rosa. I love Taiwan. Hello US. Hello big sister. Hello, little sister. I love US." (in Chinese, of course) This seemed to be good closure for her. We had fun mirroring each other. I would copy her body position. Then she would make funny faces that I would try to copy, ending with her in hysterics. This seemed to help, too.

Our flight was a miracle in and of itself. I'm usually the type that likes to wait to the last minute to get on the plane, but I felt an urgency this time, so Sam was willing to board with the early boarders-those with children and the handicapped. The plane was full, and Sam had to sit separate from Jing-Qi and I, which was already a bummer, but no sooner did we find our seats and sit down then a couple came down the aisle holding the same seat number as me. I watched as this poor couple, whose flight had been cancelled the day before, got scrunched and pressed by oncoming passengers as they awaited news of their fate from the flight attendant. As bad as I felt for this couple, I was so glad that it wasn't Jing-Qi getting scrunched in the aisle. She had enough to deal with. Eventually, the flight attendant found a man that was willing to change seats to allow the couple to sit together somewhere else on the plane. He sat next to us. Jing-Qi ate and ate and hour into the flight. Then, we hit turbulance. I didn't know my new little one gets motion sickness. There were no bags for this sort of thing in the back of my seat, so a flight attendant gave us a big plastic bag and sent an announcement over the loudspeaker asking for a doctor as we returned to our seats. It turned out that the man sitting next to us was the doctor! We all sat down just in time for poor little Jing-Qi to throw up into the big bag as the doctor and I attended her. It all got in the bag! When does that ever happen?! The good doctor was from Taiwan and spoke Mandarin, making her feel very comfortable. He told me not to let her eat for the rest of the flight. Ooops. I massaged her feet, and she fell right asleep. She slept the whole rest of the flight.

When we finally made it home, a wide smiled started to stretch across her face as she observed all the Christmas lights on the houses welcoming her. "Wow!", she said. Then, we got her settled in her room. She absolutely loves it, especially the clouds and the glowing stars on the ceiling. Yea! She loves our refridgerator and pantry. She absolutely loves her sisters. She began to go around singing, "I so happy. I so happy." I began thinking, "I so happy. I so happy." Praise God! He is so faithful and has been with us through the whole journey. I am so grateful.

Here are more pics....