I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I’ve written in my blog.  So much has changed since then.

I really wanted to write about what today means to me though. Today, June 2nd, is a very special day for me. I admit I’m probably a lot more sentimental than I need to be, but I can’t help it.  Today represents the day I became someone’s Mom. 

I’ll never forget as long as I live, I was sitting at my desk at work one year ago today, it was our social worker Christina calling to tell me that she’d locked a child’s profile for us from the Special Needs Waiting Children’s List.  It was a little boy who had just turned one on May 18th (even though his birthday was actually May 16th, she had it wrong) and he had a cleft lip and cleft palate. She was going to email me his details right then.  I remember sitting at my desk for what seemed like forever waiting for that email to come through. Then it did.

And my life changed in an instant.  I read through his info quickly, it mentioned how he liked ducks and cars and when he saw someone he knew he’d say “oh-oh”.  I kept scrolling waiting to get to his pictures.  When I realized I had gotten to his pictures, I slowed down, wanting to take in every little detail.  I remember seeing his dark, beautiful eyes and falling instantly in love.  Then scrolling down further, darling little button nose and then even in his first pictures, with the cleft in his lip still open. All I saw was this perfect, precious little boy who was about to become my son.  I knew just looking at him, he was mine.  I hurried up and called Cullen at work, he was just getting out of his car to go into his office. I remember saying, “Hi Daddy.”  We talked for a second and I told him to hurry up and get to his office and check his email and call me back.  We were both so excited.  We had to go through all the logistics of making it official. Writing our letter of petition to adopt him, having his records surveyed by a pediatrician.  We only had 48 hours to notify China that we were in fact intending to adopt him. 

We traveled the end of September of last year to adopt Roman Jackson.  We arrived in China on September 17th and were there until September 30th.  We first arrived in Beijing where we spent a day sightseeing. We arrived at around 4:30 pm on Friday Sept 18th. We were so tired, having been traveling for almost 24 hours at that point (we left St. Louis at 8am on the 17th then flew to Chicago, and from Chicago straight to Beijing).  We got to the hotel, and had intended to lay down for a nap and then were going to meet up with some friends we’d made for dinner.  We woke up at 11pm, still exhausted and fell back asleep. 

It was funny, the next morning we went down for breakfast before our day of sightseeing and we ran into the friends we were supposed to have had dinner with the night before. All of us apologizing at the same time for oversleeping and missing dinner. 

We went the day sightseeing with most of the other Children’s Hope families who had come to bring their babies home. We went to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, then out to lunch, where I, the most conservative of eaters, (meaning I don’t usually like to try new things) tried Peking Duck for the first time.  Which I didn’t care for, too fatty tasting for my liking.

Then we headed on to the Great Wall of China. Which by far was my most favorite part of our sightseeing day.  Once we got to the wall, we noticed chains that were hanging from the walls and one of the other families explained to us that the tradition was called Locks of Love. People would put their initials on the locks, hang them and then throw away the key, to show that their love was eternal and locked forever.  Many adoptive families would put a lock on the wall with their childs name on it. We were no exception. We bought a lock there at the Wall, had them engrave Jackson’s name and the date on it and we hung it on the wall.  I remember where it is too, so if we ever get back there with Jackson, hopefully the lock will still be there and we can show it to him. 

So after a day of sightseeing we went back to the hotel and got ready for our day of travel on Sunday the 20th.  We were the only family heading to the Nei Mongul (New Mongolia) Province of China to a city named Hohhot.  We left early that day with our coordinator Jessi and headed to Hohhot. It was only about an hour flight. We arrived in Hohhot and our driver was waiting for us. We were so nervous. We had already been told that we were getting Jackson that day.  At 3:30 pm. to be exact.  We were nervous, scared and very excited.

We got to our hotel. It was a very surreal experience. There isn’t a lot of tourist activity in that area, so being the only “white skinned” people there, everyone was staring at us. It was really uncomfortable.  We were really happy to get to our hotel room.  We lounged around for a bit, got settled in, got some of Jackson’s toys and snacks and clothes out and situated for him.  Took showers and even managed a nap.  Then it was time to head downstairs.  We met Jessi downstairs in the hotel lobby. She told us to have a seat. She told us it was his foster mother and the ophanage director who would be bringing him to us. They were running late, and although it seemed like forever, it really wasn’t. Finally they came through the lobby doors and my heart stopped. There asleep in his foster mother’s arms, was my son.  They came over to us, and she immediately handed him to me.  He woke up during the transfer and I was terrified he was going to freak out, but he didn’t. Instead he grabbed onto my shoulder and pulled himself up a little more so he could see everything going on around him and just looked around. I held him and kissed him and hugged him for a minute and then let Daddy have a turn.  We exchanged a few questions through our coordinator, learned that his nickname was Kai-Kai. Gave a run down of his schedule and routines and that was that.  After that we took Jackson back to our room and I think Cullen and I were both still in shock that we were finally parents. I sat down in the desk chair and it swiveled, I started rocking a little bit holding Jackson in my arms, and he laid there awake and still for a few mins and then fell asleep.  I couldn’t believe, right there in my arms, slept my son.  It was the most amazing feeling ever.

That evening we had to go and have our first family picture taken (it was for our adoption decree) then after wards, we were free to head back to our room for the night.  We just hung out, played with Jackson, got to know him, had some dinner and went to bed. 

The next day we had to get up bright and early, our hotel had a gorgeous buffet restaurant and our breakfasts were bought for us each day, so we always ate a big hearty breakfast to tide us over for most of the day.  We got up, got Jackson dressed and headed down for breakfast before having to meet with the orphanage director and other officials in order to make the adoption official. 

We had been told that the Chinese bundle their babies up in layers of clothes.  Of course we had also been told that the weather in his province was going to be very cold, and it was on average around 65 degrees each day.  So it blew our minds that the Chinese considered this very cold.  However, we did our best to honor their customs and we bundled Jackson up. Except on the first day, apparently not enough.

We had our meeting with the orphanage director and other officials.  It took place in the lobby of the hotel.  It was chilly and the wind did sweep through there quite often with people going in and out. So the officials told me to go somewhere warmer with Jackson and that they would finish the paperwork with Cullen. (We had had Jackson dressed in a onesie, a long sleeve shirt, a pair of overall bibs, a jacket, hat, socks and shoes of course)  When the paperwork was done, we were informed by our coordinator that the orphanage director wanted to remind us that they dressed their babies very warmly over there and that we needed to put another pair of pants on him. Are you kidding me, he was already sweating?? But we apologized and said yes of course. So we went back upstairs and put another pair of pants on him.   (although whenever we were in the privacy of our hotel room, we always peeled at least one layer of clothes off) hehehehe.

We spent the rest of that day, filling out paperwork, going grocery shopping and relaxing and getting to know Jackson. Going to the grocery store was strange, again, everyone stared at us, but beyond that, when you first walked into the grocery store in Hohhot, you had to give your purse or bag to a security clerk, who then put your purse or bag into a burlap tote that zipped up and locked it.  This is done to prevent shoplifting.  Then when you’re done shopping and in the check out, the cashier unlocks the bag so you can get your money out.  There are a million clerks working in the store who just stand at at the end of aisles and watch everyone to be sure noone is taking anything.  I don’t think I had a cold beverage the entire time I was in China. Even their “soda coolers” are lukewarm. Which was ok with me, but really bothered Cullen who has to have everything ice cold.

I hate that I’ve never posted our China experience here on my blog and intend to continue doing so. However I’ve run out of time for today. So tomorrow… Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes part 2.