Saturday, December 1, 2007

Update and Photos

Jacquie and Xiao-Ling are fast asleep, worn out by the emotions of the day. Our daughter pitched a small fit before falling asleep, insisting "wa hua-hua" ("I want to draw" - she's very artistic!) over and over again before eventually succumbing to the sandman's wiles. They've been sleeping now for almost five hours. On the one hand, we'd like to get her up to give her dinner and not completely wreck her schedule. But on the other hand, it's been a very big day, so we might as well let her sleep.

We're also pretty sure she fought sleeping so hard because she was grieving the loss of her friends from the foster care center. It's actually standard in adoptions; when Harry came home, he cried a lot for about two weeks before he made the adjustment. Xiao-Ling knew for some time she'd be going with us, and even gave goodbye hugs to all the other kids before we left, but grieving is still to be expected.

Many of the center's foreign volunteers came to the party and all of them gushed over how wonderful our daughter is. She actually had some anxiety when they all started to leave, worrying that we'd be leaving too. We hugged and kissed her and told her in no uncertain terms that we weren't going anywhere without her.

Now that I have a chance, here are some of the photos taken with our camera from this wonderful morning. (The whole thing was also filmed, and we will receive a DVD from the agency when it's ready.)

Xiao-Ling feeding her mom a chocolate-covered breadstick
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The perfect hostess, cutting the cake for everyone
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A mother and her wonderfully messy daughter
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Father and daughter, happy together
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Party time!
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A million-dollar smile
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Tomorrow, we head for Haikou, on the northern coast of Hainan Island, to adopt her formally. More to come!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi from sunny Florida! (Jason and I are at his parents' this weekend). I'm SO excited for you all! I tracked your flight and everything. I love you very much, and please tell Xiaoling that her cousin welcomes her into the family and can't wait to meet her. YAY XIAOLING!!!

Love love love,
Rachel

Woof woof woof!
-Brodie

Nina G. said...

Jacquie, Mark and Xiao-Ling-

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this beautiful gift with all of us. May the joy and love which is exploding out of every letter of your writings grow stronger and deeper with each new day.

Xiao-Ling, you are truly a beautiful blessing. Your smile makes Times Square look like a pen-light by comparison. I can't wait to meet you in person!

We just had our Chanuka service tonight - 3 tables of menorahs, the children's choir (at least 30 strong!) did a beautiful job with Judah Macabee, and Karen J did a masterful job of keeping us adult choir-ers on beat and on key. Don announced to the congregation that they'd pinned up Xiao-Ling's pictures on the bulletin board by the Youth Lounge, and reminded us about the blog. I came home and have spent the last hour catching up with your journey. I'm so thrilled for all of you, and will be going to sleep with a warm glow, thanks to you all!

Be well - Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanuka!! xox - Nina

Sandy von der Fecht said...

Hi Jacquie, Mark and XiaoLing!
I just finished reading your blog and looking at pictures and I'm sitting here crying with joy for you (and of course reliving our own adoption blessings, too. Thank you for that.) Your daughter is BEAUTIFUL! You look so peaceful, content, and complete.
Love,
Sandy von der Fecht