Day 2

Morning:

 

(my favorite picture to date..)

 

What an emotional day today has started out to be. Note to self, when missing family, excited about our new addition, overwhelmed with joy from how much our God loves us, DO NOT listen to Matt Redmond, 10,000 Reasons (just thinking about that song now brings a whole world of emotions and joy rushing back into my mind). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go to iTunes and download the song. It’s worth the 99 cents. Anyway, I woke up at about 7:30. Camellia was still asleep, so I took the opportunity to get a quick shower. For those of you who haven’t seen, there isn’t much privacy between the bedroom and the shower. So getting a shower before she wakes up and freaks out seeing someone as scary as I am was a good thing. There is a giant glass window between the shower, tub, and bed! This setup may make for a lovely honeymoon suite, not so good for a dad with a 4 year old. J

 

I finished my shower, managed to shave, get dressed, and she was still sleeping. I finally had to wake her up at 8:00 so we had time to Skype with Nicki and the kids, go down for breakfast, and be prepared to leave for our appointment at 10:00.

 

 

Admittedly, Skype-ing with Nicki and the kids this morning was rough. It was awesome to see them and talk to them but very difficult as I miss them more than they can know. The kids are SO excited to see her and they wait for morning and evening in anticipation of talking with her. Camellia loves it too! She keeps going over to the computer and touching it and saying something then waving. So she likes the interaction with them. I met another mom from Iowa who also got her daughter yesterday. She too is here alone with her husband and 2 boys back home. We both kind of look at each other and immediately know what the other is going through.

Our 10:00 appointment this morning was an interview to finalize the adoption and begin paperwork for her passport. The Chinese have been very nice at every meeting. They asked me why I come here alone, and a few other simple questions, 15 minutes of meetings and 1 hour of waiting. We got back to the room at noon to relax for a few hours before we meet up with the All God’s Children group for a trip to the island for shopping at 3:00. I took Camellia out of the stroller and stood her on the floor. I started putting things away and looked over at her and she’s bawling her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong. She pointed at her diaper. The whole time, Daddy forgot to see if she needed to go potty (and this is why the girl needs her Mommy)! Luckily she didn’t have an accident but she must have been holding it for quite a while.

 

After a few minutes of play I laid her down for a nap. I rubbed her back, legs, and yes, Chloe, I even tickled her feet. She fell right to sleep which has given me this opportunity to write this post.

I’m looking forward to shopping this afternoon. She needs shoes and some clothes. Although she is 4, she seems to be fitting into a 2T. It’s a little snug, so I would guess she’s a 3T in size. But the way she eats she will probably be a 4T by the time we get home. As an example, for breakfast she had- a bowl of congee, a banana, ¼ of a waffle, scrambled eggs, steamed roll (in picture), hash browns, sausage, few bites of a donut, a piece of Pita bread, a few bites of teriyaki pork, and milk. I asked her if she wanted more, she finally said no.

 

Afternoon:

And this is where things turned bad. Not much to post here as poor Camellia came down with a fever and proceeded to throw up all over my bed. Throughout the day it’s been about 6 times she has vomited. Fever has finally gone away with alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen. Luckily one of the other moms packed this as I forgot! Of course giving her American bubble gum flavored medicine was fun. I wore the first two doses.  She finally took some but told me in Chinese that she was not happy about it. She talked on for about a minute. I guess that is why I was told her nickname at the orphanage was Gabby. So not much else to say here other than we could use some prayers that she gets over the vomiting and starts feeling better. Everything she eats or drinks comes right back up. She actually asked me for a bath, so I gave her one today and she squealed so loud and had fun. I think it made her feel better. I honestly don’t think she’s had a bath before. The adoption coordinator even mentioned that the kids from orphanages generally never get baths, usually wiped off or showered on occasion. She loves it though! Signing off until tomorrow, let's see how the night goes.