The Day We Met Our Children

I haven't taken much time to blog this last week because well, I have waited a long time to be with my children and I am soaking up every moment.  I have fallen asleep with them each night and waken up to their faces next to mine and their hands reaching out for me.  I have napped next to them most days too.  Even though I want to share this part of  the journey with all of you, I haven't pulled myself away from the kids enough to do that, and I know you understand. At the same time though, I really want to blog because in the future, I want to be able to look back and see all that God has done and so I will take the time when I can and continue to write.

Our children are simply amazing.  We could not imagine things going any better.  There is definitely a connection with our kids and has been since day one.  At times, it feels like we have known each other for a long time and at other moments, I realize how very much I do not know about them or about being their mom.  We have been surprised at how well the kids transitioned into our care.

We first met them on Sunday, December 14th.  They were brought to the hotel we were staying at and we met them in the lobby.  They walked in with the bears we sent them over a year ago in hand (And let me tell you those bears have been well loved!). They stared at us for a couple of seconds before their social worker got out the picture albums we sent and asked them who they saw in the pictures and did it look like us.  They both nodded.  Marc got out a couple of small cars and we sat down, right in the middle of the lobby and pushed the cars toward them.  They smiled at us and pushed them back. 

Then we got out some bouncy balls, not sure the social workers thought that was the best activity for the lobby so they asked if we wanted to go up to our room.  Which we were very glad to do, kind of crazy to meet your children for the first time in a large hotel lobby with onlookers all around. Not a big deal though, because as soon as we saw our children everything else faded into the background.

Once we got to our room we got out some large balloons we brought with us and Marc started blowing them up.  Thankfully the hotel we were staying at had a very large living room, so there was plenty of room to play. The kids loved the balloons and we spent the better part of the next hour playing with the balloons and chasing the kids around the room.   Marc laid down on the floor at one point and both kids climbed on his back.  He got up and started crawling around the room and we heard the best sound, giggles and laughter. Our kids have never known a dad, not even a foster dad since their foster mom was a widow.  They LOVE Marc and its as if they know they need a dad.  They are so eager for his love and attention.

After this time in our room, we left to walk across the street for lunch.  Our kids both wanted us to carry them and then sat on our laps at the restaurant.  They shared a meal of fried rice and ate just about every last piece of rice. We walked back to our room and spent another hour or so playing before it was time to go. 

We rode with the social workers to the kid's foster home, which is about an hour outside of Bangkok.  We passed through the city of Bangkok and made our way into a much more rural part of the country, a city surrounded by rice fields.  It was surreal to meet the kids' foster mom, just as it was to meet them.  We have been looking at each other's pictures for 17 months and to finally meet was wonderful.  Their foster mom seems like a very sweet and caring woman and we are so grateful for the love and care she has given our children. 

It is a very different feeling on this side of things.  I know her grief and pain, at even the thought of goodbye, well.  We gave her some photo gifts we had made for her and she couldn't stop smiling looking at them.  We told her that our kids will always know that she loves them, that we will send pictures, and bring them back to visit. 

As we said goodbye the kids wanted us to hold them and didn't want us to put them down, truly God had already begun to knit our hearts together. 

A week has passed since this first day we met and tomorrow we will pick up the kids' visas at the U.S. Embassy, head to the airport and board a plane for America.  We have had a wonderful three weeks here in Thailand, but are looking forward to coming home.  Home for Christmas.

I will write more about the last week when I can!