A New Day

Things are going so well right now. This was after the melt down.

Well, I’m not gonna lie, I woke up this morning pretty nervous. Although the last night went pretty well, I still worried Kalia would not sign the papers once we got to the Civil Affairs Office.

The lady on the left is the orphanage nurse and the lady on the right is the nanny

Our guide picked us up at 8:00 a.m. and took us to the Civil Affairs office where we met Kali's nanny and nurse. I was afraid she would run to them and cling to them which would make it harder on her. BUT, she totally surprised me by only saying hi. It may have something to do with the iPod we gave her for translation (we had an old one at home) which also has some games on it. While money was exchanged and documents signed, she sat and played her iPod not really paying attention to what was going on.

Kalia signing saying YES to the adoption

Kalia putting her fingerprint which makes everything official and final

Once all the documents were signed including her signature and fingerprint, Praise God, we had to drive across town to the notaries office to take care of that. My father in law is getting quite the adventure from the driving here. If you have never been to China, their driving is undescribable. It is definitely something you have to experience to understand.

Anyway, all the paperwork is done and Kalia is officially a Yager, and we are officially a family of 9. Wow, 9!

After we were done with that, our guide dropped us off at the hotel and we are on our own until Wednesday morning which is when we will drive to Dezhou City and tour the orphanage.

We spent the day watching a movie, then went next door to a pretty swanky mall and at McDonalds for lunch. After that we found a huge bookstore that was four or five stories high. Kalia likes to read so I wanted to get her some books for the plane rides and for when we get home until she is able to understand English. She was so much fun to watch, she skipped from aisle to aisle looking for books and had no problem picking out the things she liked and wanted.

On the way back to the hotel she looked at me and said, in English, "I want to swim." I was a little surprised at how good she said it in English and even praised her on it. She got a huge smile on her face. So, we went in search of a bathing suit. I didn't think we would find one, but we were able to find one next door at the shopping mall. She could not wait to get back to the hotel so she could swim.

She looked so cute in the bathing suit and was so excited to get in the water. She got in right away and hung on to the ladder at first. She got a little brave and let go of the stairs which was pretty scary for both of us. I guess I just assumed she could swim, which she cannot. I had to reach in and get her because she was too far from the stairs to reach it. She was a little scared and translated to me that she needed a swim ring which we went and bought from the hotel swim shop right away. From there on out, she was good to go.

So happy to swim

Love her smile

So far things are going well. Please pray that everything continues to go smoothly especially after we travel to the orphanage tomorrow. I am a little hesitant in going there, but think she needs the closure. Matt and I both agree that if we had it to do over again we would have pushed the issue and gone to Jaxon’s orphanage. Live and Learn.

Here are the pics from the first meeting and our family Christmas together through SKYPE. (Matt rarely posts to the blog so it is taking him a bit to figure it out. That and having to take the biggest test of his career tomorrow and taking care of six kids)

This is the kids getting to see Kalia for the first time through SKYPE

She was terrified

Christmas…

A Christmas to Remember

Sorry for the delay in posts. We have been super busy, and trying to catch up on sleep which is not working so well. Anyway, that's not what you want to hear about, so here goes...


Kalia arrived in our room right on time, in fact, we were SKYPING with the kids back home so they were able to see her walk in and say a quick "hi."

It was pretty evident right away that she was completely terrified. She literally looked like a deer in headlights. She is absolutely beautiful and I am one proud momma.

After signing the 24 hour agreement, our guide took us along with Kalia, her nurse, and orphanage nanny to get passport pictures taken. Once that was done, the nurse and nanny said good bye for the night. Our guide, Aaron took us back to the hotel to meet with the banker to exchange money.

Kalia and I ran upstairs to get the money and took it back down to the banker and that is when she lost it. First it was just a few tears, but then it turned into a full fledged temper tantrum. Seriously, this was completely new territory for me. She kept screaming in Chinese and the guide said she was asking to go back to the orphanage, she did not want to go to America, and that her mother was not American. My heart just broke for her. Finally after being unsuccessful in calming her down we called and asked the nanny and nurse to come back.

She was throwing quite a fit, kicking, screaming, and rolling around on the couch. By the time they got there the hotel manager was talking to Kalia and trying to get her to calm down. As soon as the nurse and nanny got here, they were able to get her back up to the room (I wanted to get her out of the spotlight).

She was so upset and just kept begging them to take her back to the orphanage. After about 20 minutes of talking to her, they were able to figure out that she was scared about not being able to communicate with us. I SKYPED Matt right away and had him get Jaxon up so he could tell her that it was going to be okay (it was after 12:30 am). At first Kalia wouldn't even talk to Jaxon, but she finally listened to him. So, between Jaxon, the nurse, and the nanny, she was starting to calm down.

Because she is 10, she has the right to refuse being adopted so I was pretty worried, as were the orphanage people. They were telling her that she was going to be fine and that she was going to have good life in America.

We decided to all go get a bite to eat so we went across the street to KFC (note: it is not like KFC back home, considered yourself warned). By the time we were done eating, Kalia was doing much better so the orphanage people left and she has been completely fine since then.

Kalia, Steve and I came back to the room and Tangled was on so we watched that and Kalia was smiling and laughing outloud. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner then came back to settle in the room so we could SKYPE back home for Christmas morning.

We were able to SKYPE the kids and watch them open their gifts and they were able to watch Kalia open her gifts. She would each of hte kids' names and ages and seemed to be really excited.

So, for now things are going well. I will post about today in a later post. Jet lag is really starting to settle in and I am exhausted.

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Christmas in China

My father in law and I were leaving the hotel to get some dinner and this is what greeted us in the lobby. SO cool.

(This is Matt Reposting so as soon as i figure out how to get pictures up I'll get it done. Sorry for the hold up and thank you all for the prayers. Matt)

T - 18 Hours

After 14 hours of plane rides, one overnight hotel stay and a 2 hour train ride, we are finally in Jinan. We just got checked into our hotel and are both exhausted.

As tired as I am I don't think I will sleep much tonight because in about 18 hours, I will finally be face to face with Kalia. She will be brought directly to our room so I am excited about that.

This has been one heck of a ride and we are finally slowing down. Notice I didn't say exiting yet. Remember the whole POA post the other day? Well, Matt took it to Chicago to be authenticated and had to leave it. It was supposed to be overnighted and in his hands Friday, but it never made it. So, we are hoping and praying that it arrives Saturday. Without the POA I cannot "technically" take posession of Kalia. However, once he gets it, he is going to scan and e-mail it to me so they at least know it is on its way. I have been told that this WILL NOT be a problem.

So, please continue to pray that all goes well and Matt is able to get the POA to me ASAP.

Also, I am not sure I am going to be able to post pictures because dummy me forgot the usb cord for my camera. I do have my phone, so worst cast scenario I can post pics that way. It's better than nothing, right?

So, the next time I post, we will officially be a family of 9! WOW, I can't even believe it!

Outta Here

This is going to be super quick, I am leaving the house in less than a hour and still have packing to do.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who have helped us one way or the other. It has all been appreciated so much.

We are SO, SO blessed.

I will be blogging from China, so if you want to follow along please do.

This is going to be our families BEST Christmas ever.

Praise God!

You guys are Amazing! Truly, Truly Amazing!

I honestly do not know what to say. "Thank you" just doesn't seem like enough.

I will admit I did NOT want to post another chip in or ask for anymore money! I feel like we have asked for so much already. However, Matt is the one who pushed me to do it, because honestly, without your help, I would not be boarding a plane tomorrow to meet Kalia on Christmas Day (I still cannot believe I will be face to face with her in 5 days).

I have been so humbled by the stories from people as to why they felt led to help and the events that took place in their lives after helping us. It is truly amazing and there is honestly only one person to thank and that is God. Because without him, none of this would be happening.

My e-mail is literally overflowing with words of encouragement and prayers.

I have one more immediate need to ask for before we go.

Last night while I was going through our checklist and getting paperwork ready, I noticed I could not find our Power of Attorney. Since Matt is not going, we have to take a POA with us for the adoption. I cannot find it anywhere. I e-mailed the agency and was lucky enough to get a reply (it was after hours). They are not sure they have it either. This. Is. Not. Good.

Not only does it have to be hand carried to China, but it has to be notarized, authenticated by the Secretary of State and then authenticated by the Chinese Consulate.

I board a plane tomorrow and still have SO much to do. I cannot take much more right now. IF they do not have it, we will have to drive to Indianapolis (which is 2.5 hours from us) and then turn around and drive to Chicago from there.

Matt is working and CANNOT do it, I am working today as well and literally have a list a mile long to get done. Having to drop everything to take care of this is going to add so much stress.

So, please PRAY that our POA is found and we do not have to do anymore running around or jumping through hoops to bring Kalia home.

We are SO close...

I am off to finish up last minute packing and get ready for the i-Pad drawing. I will let you all know who the winners are later today and will have all the prizes in the mail tomorrow morning.