November 28, 2011
4:59 PM | 
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
We are up bright and early this morning, John and I struggling to sleep decently. This must be what jet lag feels like. We never had jet lag when we were here before. We can only sleep for 4 hours at a time best and exhaustion hits us out of the blue a few times a day. Last night we put sweet Ellery to bed at 8 and we went to bed right a long with her. Which is why I am up so early posting before we head to the Civil Affairs Office to make this thing final! When you are given your child in China you are given 24 hours known as the Harmonious Period to spend time with your child, if you for some reason want to change your mind you can return them to the orphanage the next day. NO THANK YOU!! This one is going home with her Mama and BaBa!
Now about yesterday....
I had a very nice sense of calm all day and never got nervous. I truly felt all the prayers that had been lifted up on our behalf. John on the other hand was the like the picture of the dad pacing the floors of a labor and delivery floor full of anxiety and wonder and questions. Will she like us? Will she Cry? Will she be ok? Will we be ok?
We were sitting in the lobby waiting. We knew she was on her way and would be there any minute. Suddenly I looked up at the lobby door and there she was. Tiny little thing. I stood there and started snapping pictures as they walked towards us. She was calm and they must have been telling her about us because I heard them say mama and baba. She was brought by the orphanage director, two nannies and her foster mother. I was very surprised but happy to see her Foster Mother. I knelt down to be on Ellery's level and so did everyone else. So there we were all of us on the floor in the lobby of a 5 star Marriott in the middle of registration for a Fortune 500 Business Convention learning all about our daughter. They happily answered all our questions. We snapped a group photo and then I reached for Ellery. I don't believe she had any idea what was really happening. When I picked her up everything changed.
Crying and tears and flailing quickly began. Before I knew what was happening the orphanage turned around and walked out of the hotel. I handed her to John since she was flailing about and our guide quickly took us upstairs to our room. She continued to cry for about 45 minutes stopping only to eat a Dum Dum and some Smarties. We completed paperwork for our process Tuesday and then we had to walk out into the hall for our first official family photo of the three of us. She was still crying so I walked out towards the indoor balcony (we are on the 19th floor, I am scared of heights so this balcony scares me) and the very site of everything calmed her. She stopped crying we took our family photo and then I decided to walk the halls with her, maybe the room right now was too much. Within minutes she started to relax and then before I knew it she was sound asleep. Scared to sit I walked the halls for about 30 minutes to let her nap. Not long after I sat in the lobby on our floor she woke up. She still wouldn't look at me dead on but she would catch side glances of me. (our guide told me she was probably scared because she had never seen anybody with blond hair and big eyes:)) We sat in the lobby and John sat across from us and started taking pictures, he was being silly and she started to smile ever so slightly. Within minutes we had our first laugh and things have been about the same since. We have not had anymore tears. We came back to the room and were able to play and she went to town on a bag of Mexican Tomato Chicken Flavored Lays Potato Chips. It was a big bag and she ate almost the whole thing. They have some of the most unusual flavors here, it is fun to try them out. She was doing so well we decided to take her to Pizza Hut for dinner. That experience could be a whole other post in itself but she was cute and is smitten with her Baba, he fed her and she would just give him the cutest looks! We got some stares walking around the streets but our guide told us most people know about International Adoption in China and think it is wonderful for these children to have a family, me too!
I know this is long but we want this documented for her. We are just amazed at how well she is doing. She is still sound asleep. John said this feels like having a new baby. We kept checking on her during the night making sure she was ok. She is ok and we are hoping for the smiles to still be on her face when she wakes up this morning and sees that we are still here. Please pray for us today as we go to the Civil Affairs Office. It is possible everyone from the orphanage will be there and it could be very upsetting to her all over again.
Thank you to everyone for your love, prayers and support and comments. John and I enjoy reading your comments. Love you all!!
Now about yesterday....
I had a very nice sense of calm all day and never got nervous. I truly felt all the prayers that had been lifted up on our behalf. John on the other hand was the like the picture of the dad pacing the floors of a labor and delivery floor full of anxiety and wonder and questions. Will she like us? Will she Cry? Will she be ok? Will we be ok?
We were sitting in the lobby waiting. We knew she was on her way and would be there any minute. Suddenly I looked up at the lobby door and there she was. Tiny little thing. I stood there and started snapping pictures as they walked towards us. She was calm and they must have been telling her about us because I heard them say mama and baba. She was brought by the orphanage director, two nannies and her foster mother. I was very surprised but happy to see her Foster Mother. I knelt down to be on Ellery's level and so did everyone else. So there we were all of us on the floor in the lobby of a 5 star Marriott in the middle of registration for a Fortune 500 Business Convention learning all about our daughter. They happily answered all our questions. We snapped a group photo and then I reached for Ellery. I don't believe she had any idea what was really happening. When I picked her up everything changed.
Crying and tears and flailing quickly began. Before I knew what was happening the orphanage turned around and walked out of the hotel. I handed her to John since she was flailing about and our guide quickly took us upstairs to our room. She continued to cry for about 45 minutes stopping only to eat a Dum Dum and some Smarties. We completed paperwork for our process Tuesday and then we had to walk out into the hall for our first official family photo of the three of us. She was still crying so I walked out towards the indoor balcony (we are on the 19th floor, I am scared of heights so this balcony scares me) and the very site of everything calmed her. She stopped crying we took our family photo and then I decided to walk the halls with her, maybe the room right now was too much. Within minutes she started to relax and then before I knew it she was sound asleep. Scared to sit I walked the halls for about 30 minutes to let her nap. Not long after I sat in the lobby on our floor she woke up. She still wouldn't look at me dead on but she would catch side glances of me. (our guide told me she was probably scared because she had never seen anybody with blond hair and big eyes:)) We sat in the lobby and John sat across from us and started taking pictures, he was being silly and she started to smile ever so slightly. Within minutes we had our first laugh and things have been about the same since. We have not had anymore tears. We came back to the room and were able to play and she went to town on a bag of Mexican Tomato Chicken Flavored Lays Potato Chips. It was a big bag and she ate almost the whole thing. They have some of the most unusual flavors here, it is fun to try them out. She was doing so well we decided to take her to Pizza Hut for dinner. That experience could be a whole other post in itself but she was cute and is smitten with her Baba, he fed her and she would just give him the cutest looks! We got some stares walking around the streets but our guide told us most people know about International Adoption in China and think it is wonderful for these children to have a family, me too!
I know this is long but we want this documented for her. We are just amazed at how well she is doing. She is still sound asleep. John said this feels like having a new baby. We kept checking on her during the night making sure she was ok. She is ok and we are hoping for the smiles to still be on her face when she wakes up this morning and sees that we are still here. Please pray for us today as we go to the Civil Affairs Office. It is possible everyone from the orphanage will be there and it could be very upsetting to her all over again.
Thank you to everyone for your love, prayers and support and comments. John and I enjoy reading your comments. Love you all!!
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8 people joined the party:
Oh my word! I didn't think I'd cry again but seeing that picture of John looking at Ellery brought the tears again. So sweet to see her daddy looking at her with so much love!
I hope today is absolutely wonderful for all of you as you make Ellery Grace an official O'Cain! :)
Jennifer, I am so happy for you and your family. All of the smiles in the pictures are wonderful to see. Congrats to you & John on becoming proud parents again. Lou Litton
AMAZING!!!! Crying, praying, and so excited for you both!! Love Jeremy and Christy Boyle
We were on the 18th floor in that hotel and I remember peering over the edge - my palms get sweaty just thinking about it! And yes, I brought my screaming baby out in that same hallway a time or two to settle her. (Our poor neighbors!) And I have to grin because in the midst of a fortune 500 conference, something even bigger than the "big shots" could ever imagine was taking place. Did they not realize they had a "rock star" in their presence?! ;) Congratulations - many special memories being made!!!
i agree with Melissa - those people have no idea that a little girl just became an orphan no more - WAY more important than some stinkin meeting they were having!! I am so glad that Ellery has alreayd begun to let down her guard - smiling and looking at her big eyed mama! Love is a sweet, sweet thing! God is awesome for orchestrating the perfect Ellery Day!!
Good Morning! Great pictures. Good luck today with all the papers. We are all doing fine. Kids have been great. We continue to pray and thank God for the new blessing. We all send our love! Dad
Still thinking about you. :o) I am so sorry for Ellery's tears, but so thankful that she has such wonderful parents to help her through those sad feelings. And it sounds as though she rebounded so quickly--so much resilience in such a tiny and precious little person! I look forward to learning of your experiences in the days ahead. I can only guess that by now Ellery is officially yours as far as China is concerned--congratulations to all 8 of the O'Cains! (I hope I counted right--I am terrible at the "higher" math that is required to keep an accounting of all of you!)
Wishing you all the best always,
Suzanne
Doug and Nancy said...
Love the updates and the pictures!! Ellery is so cute and the 3 of you are amazing!! We continue our prayers for all of you. I have a new cousin!! YEA!! Love, Doug and Nancy