Our Gotcha Day for Maisie was perfect.
I have seen videos, read blogs and heard stories of so many others, I just had to hope without expectation that her little heart would at least be cracked open to our existence. Any expectations (that I tried not to have) were far exceeded as she simply walked in the large room and right into our lives.
We were the only family adopting at the time, so it was just us and our guide and a few workers doing their job behind desks as we sat in a large waiting room. A lady came in and announced Maisie was here, just using the restroom before she came in. Two ladies shooed the poor thing in the room by herself and apparently kept telling her to go to us.
It didn't take her long, but it was a brave thing for a little girl in her situation to do. She walked up to Erik first, gave him a hug and smiled big as he took her in his arms. She was then more interested in breaking out her snacks than meeting the parents. But as she pulled her little treats out, she decided we were worth sharing with and sat and played with us taking everything in.
It was so uplifting to me to see her foster mom walk into the room after her. As much as I wanted to spend time getting to greet Maisie, I wanted to take advantage of every second I had to thank and talk with the mother that Maisie has known for over the past two years.
Maisie was well stocked with snacks and the goodies we had brought her, so it afforded us almost and hour and a half to sit down and talk with the foster mom and the orphanage lady that was in charge of international adoptions. We were well stocked with questions and thankfully even brought a gift just in case she happened to show up (which is out of the norm). We received the information and were so happy to be able to tell her we are in contact with Maisie's former foster sister of two years and that they would see each other soon. I asked how long Maisie has known about us or the adoption. I was so taken back by the provincial response. The mother told me that when the sister was adopted back in December, that started conversations between Maisie and the mother about adoption. That was several months before our referral. I was so grateful that Maisie had this time to start processing what it could mean for her. I also didn't take lightly the fact that Maisie's health and well being is the high level it is today because of the individualize care she received in the foster home.
We finally ended the meeting with an appointment to return to the orphanage and foster home in a few days. Maisie said her good-byes and enjoyed a super fun escalator ride out to the car.
It was so uplifting to me to see her foster mom walk into the room after her. As much as I wanted to spend time getting to greet Maisie, I wanted to take advantage of every second I had to thank and talk with the mother that Maisie has known for over the past two years.
Maisie was well stocked with snacks and the goodies we had brought her, so it afforded us almost and hour and a half to sit down and talk with the foster mom and the orphanage lady that was in charge of international adoptions. We were well stocked with questions and thankfully even brought a gift just in case she happened to show up (which is out of the norm). We received the information and were so happy to be able to tell her we are in contact with Maisie's former foster sister of two years and that they would see each other soon. I asked how long Maisie has known about us or the adoption. I was so taken back by the provincial response. The mother told me that when the sister was adopted back in December, that started conversations between Maisie and the mother about adoption. That was several months before our referral. I was so grateful that Maisie had this time to start processing what it could mean for her. I also didn't take lightly the fact that Maisie's health and well being is the high level it is today because of the individualize care she received in the foster home.
We finally ended the meeting with an appointment to return to the orphanage and foster home in a few days. Maisie said her good-byes and enjoyed a super fun escalator ride out to the car.
She seemed to enjoy the car ride and was mesmerized getting to look out the moon roof. She walked in the lobby of our hotel like a boss and just kept chattering away.
Our guide had many good things to say about her talking and behavior. She used our Western toilet and thought it was pretty fun to have her hands splashing in the sink to wash up.
We patiently waited for a decent hour back home to wake up the siblings and Skype. They all voted we should keep her. She seemed to recognize them from the pictures. We got to meet a few other family members before bed time. She has played non-stop, giggled hard and loved on us. She didn't have any intention on going to sleep until we resorted to shutting off every light to which she cried for a few minutes and then crashed hard until we woke her up 11 hours later. I couldn't have asked for a smoother day. I know it was because of the prayers of many in which we thank you for every one.
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