GOTCHA DAY

The day was incredible. Gracyn's entire foster family (sans one foster sister who was away in high school) came with her along with 2 social workers, Jessica, Mei Chun, me and Dad. There were a lot of people, and it was very clear that we all love her very much.

I'm exhausted. She did really well with the introduction. I sat back, and waited for her to bring something to me. I think she knew what was happening. . .The one thing I kept requesting was that the family not leave without saying goodbye. I know it's very hard to say goodbye on either end, but it was something that I strongly felt should and needed to happen for both Gracyn and the foster family for closure.

I found out that the foster family is Paiwan as I thought. They don't think Gracyn is aboriginal, but they did give her some aboriginal dresses, and I showed them the bracelets that I bought for her at the Aboriginal Cultural Park. Her Foster Mom changed her into a the red dress below. In addition to her clothes, they provided us with her toys, everything we've sent, the cameras and video camera we sent, albums, blanket, and even diapers, formula, and treats for her.

I'm probably skipping over so many details, but I really am just drained. . .the family left and was in the car, when I began to beg and plead with the SLC Staff and Social Workers to please ask them to say goodbye. I thought at that point I'd just have to accept that everything else was as we had hoped. Family came, answered all our questions, but perhaps the way they do things there is to leave for fear the "goodbyes" are all too hard. God pulled through for us! They came back and said goodbye, both mom and dad hugged me in front of Gracyn. Her Foster Mom and I both stood there in tears. . .she was devastated. It was so apparent from the minute they walked in that they cared for her as one of their own.

Surprisingly, Gracyn waved bye to them without any tears. . .she took to my dad right away! She likes men - DH, get ready! She didn't cry at all while we were at SLC. When we got in the cab, she was hysterical. . .she cried at the top of her lungs until we got to the HSR. And guess what? She cried the ENTIRE time from Tainan to Taipei. For the first 5 minutes we were in our cabin, before we were asked to move because she was disturbing other passengers. Then we were in a cabin by ourselves for about 30 minutes, and then that cabin filled up, so we ended up in the entrance passing area the rest of the trip. Oh wait! until my dad managed to put her to sleep and we sat in our original seats, but she woke up 15 minutes before our stop, so back to the lovely, tiny compartment with no seats. . .Let me make it clear that she was crying, flinging her whole body back, scratching and pulling at her head because she was so hot, and she did better with my dad than me, so my dad took on the task. Thanks Dad!!!

She did okay with the new shoes, new pj's, and new formula, but I think she's attached to her bottle. I'll try again tomorrow. She barely eats for a 2 year old, instead just taking a bottle with rice cereal. DH - you win on shoe size, I win on height. She's so petite! And watch out. . .she's super anal, needs everything in it's place, and know what she wants when she wants it. She's funny, smart, can follow commands, but still not using any words. Likes to play with the remote, the phone, the fax machine - pretty much anything mechanical.

We're sleeping on the floor, and probably will be for a while. She did eat when we both fed her. She has excellent eye contact. She's mad. But sometimes I don't think it's us, it's just she wants to be out playing. DH - does that sound familiar? She doesn't take well to strangers at first, but shares with everyone. Thank goodness for that one! I really think having her home with Peyt will do wonders for her.

When we got off the train, I failed to remember my own tip, and we somehow only had one ticket. Which meant we couldn't get out. The guy refused to let us out, so as I crouched down looking, my dad literally put Gracyn's screaming head near his ear! LOL - my dad found the ticket in his pocket 5 minutes later, and BTW this was the first point where I thought I was going to scream. We finally got to a cab, and yet again, TEARS all the way until she fell asleep for about the last ten minutes. Then the crazy guy tried to drop us off somewhere (not in front of the hotel) so I had to go get hotel staff to help me with the bags. . .in the rain. . .

When we got to the hotel, she continued to cry, until my dad finally just took her out for a walk. I took a quick shower, uploaded the pics, and then he brought her back. I told him to go ahead and leave the 2 of us, which again triggered yet more tears, thrusting, hitting of her head and mine, until she finally laid down with me, took a bottle, I rubbed her palm, and she dozed for a bit. Dad came back with the food, and she woke up a different person. We played and she ate a bit of rice and tonkatsu, made sure that the two of us ate, and she was laughing! I had my dad take her down to get hot water for her bottles. (I had PJ's on!) And they came back, with no fuss. At 8:30, I finally forced the crying again, to put her to sleep. It required both me and dad to lay down on the floor with her, she still preferred my dad over me, but she fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. I'm sure if she wakes in the middle of the night or even if she makes it until morning she'll pitch a fit again. . .

I just accidentally deleted an entire part of this post, and have no idea what I just wrote. . .

Let me try again, she's anal, knows what she wants when she wants it, and likes everything from phones, fax machines, and the remote. She loved playing with paper on my head. . .she has great eye contact, and I think sometimes she's not mad at us, she's just mad. She'd rather be outside playing. DH - sound familiar? But, she does like to share! Thank goodness for that. Oh, she's shy of strangers, and has a birthmark on the left side of her body - dad noticed that! And better yet, she's not picky or attached to any security items (which is good and bad in this case.)

Tomorrow is a free day - which is good. I really hope we're able to get on the plane on Thursday without the crying we experienced today. It was really, really hard, but we were both really calm. We, being me and dad. Not sure how I would have done it without him.

God has continued to give me peace. . .did I mention that Gracyn's foster family is Christian? And she loves to shake hands and sing at church! I have no idea what I'm typing anymore, so I think I better sleep while I can. I'll have to write more when I get home, and I'm sure I'll look at this and wonder, what was I writing???

DH and Peyt - I miss you terribly. Please continue to pray for all of us. . .
Gracyn is beautiful, smart, silly, and remember how I said I thought she looked like Nick? Well I think she kind of looks like Maddie! (Which would make sense since Nick and Maddie are twins!) She's built like Maddie too. . .I know she'll be fine - I'm just a little worried about the plane ride and car ride home. . .oh, and she loves playing in the water. Maybe they'll lock us up in the lavatory? I can barely keep my eyes open. . .love you guys!