BEAUTIFUL MOLLY KATE!

DAY 3 - GOTCHA DAY!!!!

DAY 3 - GOTCHA DAY!!!!! (REFLECTIONS)

We left Hong Kong at 9 AM on Sunday morning and headed back to the Hong Kong Airport to catch our flight to Nanchang, which is in the Jiangxi Province of China.   I don't know if I mentioned it before or not, but there are five families in our travel group.  Mark and Tonya Newbill are from Texas (they have a 22 months old son named Mason, adopted from Korea seven months ago with them), Richard and Sheila Baldwin from Virginia (they have an 11 year old son, Ryan with them), Greg and Tami Staut from Colorado, and Keith and Christine White from North Carolina (they have a 7 year old daughter, Katherine with them, who was also adopted from China)   And then, there's Roger and me, with Shea.  Other than me,everyone in our group was pretty quiet (even Roger) as we waited at the airport to board our flight.  I was just downright giddy!!!!  I had waited for this day for over FIVE years, and I wasn't about to get nervous about it!!!!!

We arrived at the airport around 1:30 PM, and was greeted by our guide Evelyn, holding up the CCAI sign.  It was obvious from the beginning that Nanchamg was totally different than Hong Kong.  I can't explain how the traffic is here.  I've NEVER seen people drive like they do here, and it is CONSTANT horn honking, although all streets have signs that saying horn honking is prohibited.  It's somehting to see AND hear!!!  In fact, as I'm sitting here typing this message, there's hardly a second that I'm not hearing horns beeping. 

Evelyn told us that our babies would be arriving around 5:00 PM.  All five of us families had a meeting with her for important information about our babies, and also about the paperwork we would be completing the next couple of days.    We then went back to our rooms, and planned to return to the meeting room at 5, so we could all see each other's babies when they arrived. 

What a sight it was to see when the first baby, to be named Riley, was delivered to Mark and Tonya.  She was SOOOOOO cute!  Then came Keith's and Christine's baby, to be named Kiimberly..  She too was SO sweet.  Them Greg's and Tami's arrived---Marissa, another cutie.  Then, there were no more babies.  Evelyn tired to call the director of the orphanage, who was bringing Molly Kate.  They had just arrived iin Nanchang, but because it was rush hour, it was going to be another 15 or 20 minutes before they arrived. 

That waiting time seemed like an eternity, and then......there she was.......the baby girl who had been in our hearts and minds for over five years.  She looked SO tiny for her age, and as I've already shared, she cried when I took her in my arms----not for long, though.  She had on the little outfit I had sent to the orphanage in a care package.  The shoes she had on were too big, so they had them tied on with a string around her ankles.  She was clean, though, and dry.  It was just a traumatic time for her.  Despite the fact that she was scared and unhappy, she let me hold her close and snuggle her.  It was an instant bond, and OHHHHHHH how good it felt!!! 

A Mother's Love!

Daddy's Girl!

Big Brother Lil Sis!

She was still pretty solemn, though, until I was getting her ready for bed.  I started to pull her top over he head, and I stopped with it on top of her head, and there was something about that that made her giggle for the first time.  Then, when I put the hair bow on her and told her she was beautiful, I got that giggle and big smile again. 

I'm happy to report that our sweet Molly Kate slept all night long!!!!!! I think she knew her Mommy and Daddy were pretty tired!!!!  We had received the report, though that she was a good sleeper---words ANY mother loves!!!! 

I have a lot to tell you about Day 4, but I'm so very tired that I'm ready to go to bed.  It's only 9:40 here, and most of you know me......I'm usually just getting started at this time of the night.  I'm telling you, though, I REALLY do think time is longer HERE than it is at home.  It sure seems like it!!!!

I will write more tomorrow!!!!  Before I stop writing, though, I would like to throw in something that has nothing to do our adoption journey---well, actually it is connected to part of our adoption story.  There is a little 2 1/2 year old girl named Maya Rose who lives in Michigan, who was a roommate of Molly Kate's in the orphanage.  She is having surgery today to repair a cleft palate.  Please pray for her.  She is a special girl to us, even though we've never seen her in person, because she and Molly Kate were together for quite a long time.  Her mom, Kris and I are good adoption buddies.  There is a bond between people who adopt, that I just can't 'explain.....ANYWAY. please lift her up in your prayers!   

DAY 1 and DAY 2 OF OUR CHINA ADVENTURE

DAYS 1 - 2 OF OUR CHINA ADVENTURE

I know I've shared bits and pieces of what's been going on in our lives since we left for China.  I want to try to share a little bit more about what has been going on since we arrived here. 

We didn't get in to Hong Kong until almost midnight on Friday night, which would have been 10 AM on Friday at home.  It was quiet a relief to arrive at our destination after almost 28 hours of travel!!!  I don't think I had fully realized that we had literally traveled to the other side of the world to get our precious daughter, until this moment.  When we arrived at the Hong Kong Airport, our guide, Matthew, was waiting at the gates, holding up the CCAI sign so we would know our fearless leader for the next couple of days had arrived.  We headed to our hotel, which was the Hyatt Shatin Hotel.  It was quite a relief to be able to take a bath and crawl into a comfortable bed!!!  The hotel was probably the nicest we've ever stayed in.

On Saturday, we took a tour of Hong Kong.  Needless to say, it would  take DAYS to see everything in Hong Kong!  It really is a very pretty city---I just happen to prefer Benton!!!  We saw several historical sites, and then did some shopping at the Stanley Market.  We had a very nice authenic Chinese lunch.  I've learned that NOTHING in China tastes like the Chinese food in our LOCAL Chinese restaurants!  After lunch, we went back to the hotel, and---you guessed it----we all three took a NAP!!!!!!  That night we went with one of the other couples in our travel group and rode the train to a local mall.  It was something to see----SEVEN floors of stores!!!!!!  Once we got back to the hotel, I got everything packed to leave the next morning for Nanchang, and then I had a good sit down talk with God about the upcoming day.  When I finally went to bed, HE gave me a wonderful night's sleep so I would be ready for our GOTCHA DAY!!!!

Introducing Molly Kate Pierce!

IT'S GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

 

IT'S GOTCHA DAY!!!!

 

Our big day has finally arrived!!!!!!  I have to say it all seems like a dream, and I definitely think that time is slower in China than it is in the United States.  When I was packing for our trip on Wednesday, there weren't enough minutes in the day to do all I had to do.  Here, it seems like time stands still.  Could it be because we are finally just a few hours away from holding our precious Molly Kate in our arms?!?!?!

 

We are currently in the airport in Hong Kong, waiting for our flight to leave for Nanchang.  It will be an hour and a half flight.  I'm not sure when the babies will arrive to the hotel, but it is supposed to be sometime this afternoon. 

 

We have four other wonderful families in our travel group.  All of us have already experienced parenthood before this, but it's the first time to adopt for three out of five of us.   Somehow, though, I seem to be the only one bouncing off the walls with jubilation!!!!!  Roger is very happy, too, but I think he may have a few butterflies in his stomach at the moment.  Bless his heart....I think he had NO idea when he married me what kinds of BIG ADVENTURES I would take him on!!!!

 

As soon as we get our precious Molly Kate, I will post again, and HOPEFULLY, I will have pictures of our GOTCHA MOMENT!!!!  I would send a video, too, but I forgot the cord that connects from our video camera to our computer!!!! OH, WELL, at least I didn't forget any of Molly Kate's outfits and HAIR BOWS!!!!! I can't wait to show off our brown-eyed girl!!!!!

GOD IS SOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!

The FIRST of many days to remember.....

Roger and I had expected to receive our referral for Molly Kate in or before December.  We were expecting that magic phone call on November 29 or December 6 from our adoption agency telling us information about the daughter who had been matched with us.  We were anxiously awaiting the referral picture of her that was to be sent via email.  I was SO excited!!!!!  I handled it just fine when we didn't receive the call on November 29, because I just KNEW we would receive it the following Monday.  Since I was scheduled to substitute teach on that Monday, December 6, I decided I'd better call our agency and make sure they had my cell number so they would be able to reach me when they made the referral call.  On Wednesday, December 1, I made that call to our agency.  I couldn't believe what I was told, though.  The rep whom I talked with told me that they were only expecting referrals for the log in dates of May 24 - 26 of 2006.  Our log in date was May 29, 2006.  That meant that the referrals for December weren't even going to get CLOSE to our date.  I couldn't get off the phone fast enough.  For the first time in the almost FIVE years of waiting for our precious daughter, I put my head down on the table and I SOBBED.  I cried and cried, until I couldn't cry anymore.  You see,  my dad had just passed away the week before on Thanksgiving, and I'm sure some of the emotions were a combination of that AND the disappointment from being told we would NOT be receiving our referral in December.  I had SO wanted my dad to see a picture of Molly Kate before he passed away, but that just wasn't in God's plan. (I think God probably allowed him to get a sneak peek at her, though, when he got to heaven!)  I had wanted a picture of her for Christmas---just a picture to hang on our tree, and I had really thought that was going to happen.   It was truly heartbreaking.  HOWEVER, I finally stopped crying and did a reality check with myself.  There was NOTHING I could do about the situation.  We had been waiting for 55 months for our referral, so we were just going to have to wait another month for it.  Instead of it being an EXTRA MERRY CHRISTMAS, it was going to be a HAPPIER NEW YEAR.  I made my peace with God about it.  When my dad had been taken to the hospital the last time before he passed away, I was sitting in the waiting room with my mother and brother, when I noticed a painting on the wall with the scripture, "Be still and know that I am God."  Psalms 46:10.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I quoted that verse to myself during times I spent with my dad at the hospital during his last days of life.  I found that same verse to be a comfort to me after the disappointment of not receiving our referral.  Every night I would go in Molly Kate's room and sit in the rocking chair, with just the lights on her little Christmas tree on, and pray.  I would say that verse multiple times because that is what I was seeking to do, AND I prayed for God's perfect timing for our referral. 

The whole referral thing was very puzzling because on Monday, December 6, they weren't mailed to the agencies. On the NEXT Monday, December 13, they still had not come out for the month.  I asked my friend, Bonnie, who is not only my BEST ADOPTION FRIEND, but also my adoption EXPERT (she's adopted THREE TIMES from China), if she thought that they MIGHT be doing MORE referral dates since they hadn't been announced yet.  She said they MIGHT be, but since our agency had given me the dates for the referrals and told me our date wouldn't be included, that was probably the way it was going to be. I was just anxious for those referrals to come out, so that CCAA would begin to work on the batch for January and HOPEFULLY include our date.

THEN......on December 15, I was on my way home from an appointment, when my cell phone rang.  I looked at the number and didn't recognize it.  When I answered, it was none other that my dear friend, Bonnie.  We email each other just about every day, some days multiple times.  We don't talk on the phone a lot, though.  When I heard her voice,  I was SO surprised.  And THEN, she went on to ask me if I had looked that day on the internet at the predictions for referrals for the month.  When I told her I hadn't, she informed me that it was predicted, QUITE RELIABLY, that our LID date WAS going to be included in the December referrals, after all!!!!!  I think I asked her if she was SURE.....and THEN, I started BOO HOOING again, but THIS time they were tears of JOY!!!!

It was two days later, on December 17, 2006 that our agency confirmed referral packages had been received, and that we would get our referral call on the following Monday, December 20!!!!!  AHHHHHHHH....our dream was REALLY about to come true!!!!!

Why did the predicted 14-16 month wait for Molly Kate turn into a FIVE YEAR WAIT???

Luckily for you, this post won't be nearly as long as my last one, because my answer to the above question is simple----- I have NO CLUE why the wait to adopt a baby from China has become SO long! There is one thing I DO know, though.  I truly believe when Roger and I made the decision to adopt, God chose THE ONE AND ONLY BABY GIRL that HE intended to be ours.  It just so happened that she wasn't born until 3 1/2 years after we had applied to adopt, and for some other unknown reason, God wanted her to be 17 months old when we adopted her.  SO.....even though our wait for Molly Kate has been long, it has been bearable because we KNEW all along we were waiting for the baby girl who was going to be THE PERFECT ONE for us!!!!

Now, I have to admit since we've received our pictures of Molly Kate, I have looked at them MANY times and marveled as to why THIS child is the one HE chose for us.  Don't take me wrong---we think she is perfect through and through, and even though we have yet to see her in person....to touch her....to hold her tightly in our arms.....we wouldn't trade her for ANY other baby for ANY reason!!!!  But WHY THIS ONE?  Why did He choose a baby girl who was abandoned in the Jiangxi province of China to be the  perfect one for us?  It is just all so MINDBOGGLING and AMAZING!!!!  Of course, I think God threw a little humor into the match, too.....we've been told our Molly Kate is quiet, shy, and bashful----quite the OPPOSITE of all of us!!!  Oh well....we will SEE how long she stays that way!!!!!

SO.....When did the journey to Molly Kate begin?

Our adoption journey actually began in December of 2004.  Roger and I had never EVER talked about adopting a child.  As I said before, we were happy and VERY BUSY with our boys.  However, I think God was definitely working in our hearts about adoption, even though it had never entered our minds.

Roger was the principal at the Mayfield/Graves County Area Technology Center.  We decided to have a Christmas party at our house for all of his faculty, staff, and substitute teachers.  It was a great evening with lots of food, fun, and fellowship.  As we were all sitting around conversing, one of Roger's substitute teachers, Ricky Frick, started talking about mission trips that he took every year to Russia.  I was very interested in what he was saying, because I had envisioned that when Roger and I both retired, we might get to do some mission work---something I had always dreamed of doing.  Well, as the conversation went on, Ricky began telling about the children in Russia and how his mission team visited numerous orphanages each year, and how needy those children were.  I assume it was at that very moment that the little adoption seed that God had planted deep within me MUST have sprouted----I'm talking about BIG TIME sprouting!!!!  I looked at Roger and said, in front of EVERYONE, "HONEY...THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO....WE NEED TO ADOPT INTERNATIONALLY!!!"
Poor Roger!  What else could he say, but, "Well, if you think that's what GOD is telling us to do...."  I knew in my heart at that very moment, it WAS what HE was telling us to do.  SO began our jouney......

Ricky gave me the email address of a lady in Russia whom he said could get me information on adoption.  I emailed her, and she sent me the name and contact information for a family in Owenboro who had adopted two children from Russia.  I immediately called and talked to the happy mother and I was SO touched by her story---one of infertility, and numerous attempts to have a child through invetro fertilization with no luck, and then the blessing of a beautiful daughter adopted from Russia, and a wonderful son adopted a year later.  But when she shared the process they went through and the cost---possible multiple trips to Russia, with stays sometimes as long as a month, and a cost of $30,000+, I knew that was where our adoption journey to Russia ended.  I guess I was a little disappointed, but then, we had our sons, we were happy, I was 46 years old (I forgot to mention that earlier), everything was really okay with our life the way it was.  So, that was the END of the adoption story...or WAS it?

A couple of months later I ran into a local minister who had just gotten back from a mission trip to Romania, and guess what was there????----orphanages with children who desperately needed homes.  That little seed inside of me apparently sprouted a little more, because I began researching the adoption process and cost for that country.  Not only did Romanian adoption also involve long stays and astronomical costs, but Roger and I were actually TOO OLD to adopt from there.  HMMMMMMM.......  Again, I was truly okay with it and just decided that we really weren't supposed to adopt after all, but........

Some months later I was at Wal-Mart doing one of my mega-midnight shopping sprees.  (I LOVE to go shop there late at night when the only inhabitants there to challenge me are the buffers!)  Anyway, by the time I got ready to check out, it was around 1:30 A.M.  I proceeded to the one checking line that was open, and I encountered the only other shopper in the store I had seen, in front of me, with her cart piled halfway to the ceiling.  As we were standing there, we began talking.  It wasn't long before she shared with me that she was leaving in a couple of days to adopt a baby girl from Guatemala.  She told me all about her adoption, and THEN proceeded to tell me that her parents were already in Guatemala because they were adopting a little boy from there.  I asked her how old her parents were, and when she said her mom was 52 and her dad was 55.....WELL, that little seed inside of me sprouted again....Was God telling me we needed to check on adoption in Guatemala???  SO began my research on adoption from there, but the story again resulted in a dead end.  We just couldn't think about making the trips it would involve, nor did we have the money it required.  For the third time, I as really okay.  We had our three boys---the best three boys in the world, and they really were all we needed...so, that was the end of our adoption story AGAIN, or was it?????

One Friday night---the last Friday night in January of 2006, Roger and I went out to eat, and then I decided to go back to school and work on my lesson plans for the following week.  It was 6:30 P.M., and as I was walking through the door, one of my teacher friends, Mandy, was walking out.  We stopped and started talking---we were laughing about never really seeing each other at school to talk.  Then she asked me if I knew her cousin, Melinda.  I told her I did---that our sons had played baseball together one summer, and we had gotten to know each other quite well.  It was THEN that Mandy dropped the bomb when she told me that Melinda and her family were on their way home from China with a baby girl.  I looked at her and said, "Why are you telling me this?"  You see, she had NO IDEA that Roger and I had looked into adoption.  With this being the FOURTH time I had unexpectingly run into someone involved with adoption, I just KNEW God was trying to tell me something.  Adoption from CHINA had never crossed my mind.  Mandy told me she would email me the pictures of Melinda's baby.   

I went home and told Roger all about what had happened.  Bless his heart---I'm sure everytime he thought I was over this CRAZY idea, I'd pop back in with another possible avenue.  Every time he would just say, "If you think that's what God is telling us to do....."  THEN, on Monday when I got to school and opened my email, THERE was the pictures of 10 month old Sophie Elizabeth.  There was no more sprouting of that seed inside of me----it FULLY BLOOMED!  I KNEW GOD WAS TELLING US THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO ADOPT, AND OUR DESTINATION WAS CHINA!!!!  I forwarded the pictures to our home email, and when Roger saw them, his response THIS time was, "Why don't you call Melinda and ask her about the process."  A few days later I made the call.   I found out the process for adopting from China was very different from all the others I had looked in to.  It only involved ONE trip to China, and the cost was almost HALF of what it was everywhere else.  I got all of the information I needed from Melinda.  Roger and I talked about it, and we decided to send an application to CCAI---Chinese Children Adoption International.  This was the agency Melinda had used, and she and her husband had been very pleased with everything. I called the agency and talked to representative, and we received an application a few days later.   It was quite a lengthy application, but I finally finished it, and mailed it to CCAI on Friday, February 10, 2006.  On the following Tuesday, February 14---Valentine's Day---we received our call from CCAI telling us that we had been approved to adopt!!!!

WHEW!!!!  I'm am SURE you are tired of this LONG, DRAWN OUT story.  But that is how our journey to Molly Kate began----a journey that we were told would take approximately 14 - 16 months to complete.  YES, I said 14 to 16 months......SO, what happened?  I think the question is more, "What DIDN'T happen?---and that's ANOTHER story......

Why in the world would WE want to adopt a baby?

If I had a dollar for everytime I have been asked in the past five years, "Why in the world do you want to adopt a baby?" I could probably make a pretty big dent in paying for the cost of our adoption!!!! 
I admit we don't fit the typical mold for those who adopt.  Roger is 57 and I'm 52.  We are not childless---we have the three best sons in the world--Evan, 21, Keaton 20, and Shea 18.  When we began the process, it wasn't that we weren't satisfied with our family as it was.  AND.....we didn't decide to adopt because we thought we just HAD to have a daughter.  If I had a dollar for everytime someone had said THAT to me, our adoption would probably be TOTALLY paid for!!!!

I really think that God planted the "adoption seed" in me when he created me.  He SO blessed me when he allowed me to give birth to my three sons.  The days of their births were three of the top five best days of my life!!!!  (the first best was when I gave my heart and life to my Lord, and the last was when I married Roger.)  I absolutely loved and STILL love motherhood, and every time I had a baby, I wanted another one.  When Roger and I married, we really wanted a baby, but I was 40 and he was 45 and my "birthing timeclock" just wasn't going to allow that.  We were fine.  As I said we were happy with our three sons.

SO, what happened to start this journey to Molly Kate?  As Paul Harvey would say, "Stay tuned for the REST OF THE STORY!"

Introduction

We are Roger and Vicki Pierce.  We greatly appreciate you taking the time to share in the journey of a lifetime that we chose to embark upon over five years ago.  I intended to start a blogspot a long time ago.  I guess by now I would have run out of things to say, had I done so---if it's actually possible for ME to run out of things to say!!! There are so many things, though, that I would like to share about the five years we have waited for our precious Molly Kate.  SO, this is the first of many ramblings that I'm going to try to compose before we leave for China this coming Thursday!!!  Vicki :)