Our day in Tainan, part 2

We met our agency’s in-country coordinator at our hotel about 10:30am, and she directed the cab driver to the orphanage. When we arrived we went upstairs and waited for our baby boy to be dressed in clothes we brought for him. It’s hard to describe the emotions of this day. On the one hand, I was so excited to finally be meeting our sweet boy; on the other hand, I was nervous about the whole meeting thing – how would our son react to meeting us? did I bring appropriate gifts for everyone (orphanage, birth mom, etc.)? would the birth mom be there, too? and what do we say to her if she is there?

My nerves calmed as soon as I saw our sweet baby boy. I can’t explain it, but I think I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him…is that possible?!

We brought two photo books of our older son, one for the orphanage and one for the birth mom. The birth mom was not there today but the orphanage gave us a CD of photos before we left, which include some photos of her and our son. I will treasure those photos and share them with our son when he is older.

The staff at the orphanage really seemed to love the photo book – they looked through it as we sat there and commented on many of the photos. (Our other son was adopted from St. Lucy’s in September 2009, and the book documented his life from the day we picked him up at the orphanage until just a few weeks ago). In one photo, of my husband holding our older son, a caregiver said Dave looks like a movie star…ha! Maybe that explains all the people staring at us in Taiwan – I’m married to a movie star!

As we left the orphanage in a cab and headed back to the high-speed rail station, our son fell asleep in my arms. It was a full day for him and for us. . .he’s still warming up to us. I love his toothless grin that show off his dimples, and I hope to see more of those soon.

Sleeping as we wait for the high-speed train

My Top Ten for Taiwan

Planning this trip to Taiwan will be a little different for us. We know a little better of what to expect, and there are some things we know we would like to do and see again. This trip will be a little shorter, so we won’t be able to do everything we did last time. . .but I wanted to share my top ten for Taiwan. There is much more to explore in Taiwan, so if you have recommendations or suggestions for our next trip, please post a comment and let me know.

1. Taroko National Park: Beautiful. To read more about our trip to this area, visit this post and this post.

2. Din Tai Fung: Best dumplings in the whole wide world as far as I am concerned. At the restaurant we visited, we watched through the window as the dumpling chefs rolled out the dumplings, filled them and quickly pinched them together.

3. Taipei 101: At the time we visited this building in 2009, it was the tallest building in the world. It held that title for six years before the opening of the world’s newest skyscraper in Dubai. Taipei 101 is designed to withstand typhoon winds and earthquakes, common in Taiwan. The design and views from this building are all impressive. (We also loved the food court at Taipei 101.)

4. Flower Market: This market in Taipei (and the Jade Market, see below) are only held on the weekend. The plants and flowers are beautiful. . .I just wish I had a way to bring home some of the beautiful orchids. There are some great photos of the Flower Market and the Jade Market at this website of Neil Wade Photography.

5. Jade Market: When we arrived at the Jade Market, it was just opening so some of the vendors were still setting up. It is across the street from the Flower Market. We bought some teacups at the market. I’m a better negotiator of price when I speak the same language – it did help our negotiations to use  the expression “Tài guì le” a few times (“too expensive”).  In the photo above, I asked permission before taking this picture of two men and a young boy playing Chinese chess at the Jade Market.

6. SOGO Department Store: This department store is a mall in itself…but like nothing we have in the United States. We had fun just walking through the different sections. It does help to know the expression in Chinese for “I’m just looking” because the attentive sales clerks are often standing close by ready to help (“Wǒ zhǐshì kàn kàn, xièxiè”).

7. Taiwan Handicraft Promotion Center: This is where we picked up many of the souvenirs and gifts for family and friends. It is a multi-story building with thousands of authentic Taiwanese gifts, everything from embroidered purses and clothing to beautiful jewelry and decorative art and furnishings. Prices are marked on the items, rather than negotiated like the Jade Market. I was skeptical at the Jade Market whether some items were authentic, and felt a little more comfortable buying some higher-priced items at the Handicraft Mart.

8. National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: This is an impressive tribute to the former president of the Republic of China.

9. Traditional Market: I’m not sure if this is the correct name. When we were in Tainan, we walked through a morning market where vendors had brought fresh food (meats, vegetables, etc.) to sell. It was so interesting, and I wish we had been able to spend more time exploring the market.

10. St. Lucy Center, Tainan: I can’t leave this one off of my top 10 list. This is the orphanage where our sons have lived until we could adopt them and bring them home. The caregivers are wonderful and it was obvious from our brief time at the orphanage, the women bond with the babies in their care. They rejoice with the families coming to adopt the children, but I have to wonder how hard it is for them to say goodbye to the children. I’m grateful for the love and care the staff and caregivers give to the children. They are doing their best to prepare the children for their new families.

I would love to hear the places and things that would be on your top ten list for Taiwan!

Meeting our son for the first time

Backtracking a bit, I wanted to fill you in a bit on our day at St. Lucy’s Center and meeting our son for the first time.

Our agency’s in-country coordinator was scheduled to meet us at our hotel in Tainan about 9:30am. We called her to check-in and make sure everything was still on schedule at St. Lucy’s. She told us on the phone then that the birthmom was going to be at the orphanage to meet us. I was already nervous, and hearing that just made the butterflies in my stomach a bit more intense. We had brought a gift for our son’s birthmother but did not expect to meet her.

There is no way we would have been able to direct a taxi to St. Lucy’s. For families who go there on their own, without someone with their agency, kudos for finding that place and not getting lost. It seemed like the roads (more like alley ways) kept getting smaller and smaller and we kept making turns.

We went to the meeting room upstairs. I gave one of the caregivers the outfit we had chosen for our son – a UVA onesie, shorts and a socks. The clothes fit, but just barely. I think I guessed his size pretty well, with both his clothes and the diapers we bought.

They brought him to us about 10 minutes later. It felt like it was taking forever. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him. The caregivers at St. Lucy’s said he is reserved. . .I would call him Mr. Serious. He came to me easily and seemed pretty unemotional about all that was going on. It wasn’t until later when another caregiver came in to feed and play with him that we really saw his personality emerge. That was a relief – it seems he had really bonded with this particular caregiver and we were pleased to see him laughing and playing.

After playing with him, we were given a tour of St. Lucy’s. We were not allowed to go into the nurseries, but could look in through the windows. The nurse took our son back into the nursery and took some photos of him in his crib for us. We had also taken a matte with us which we asked his caregivers to sign (thanks, Judy, for that wonderful idea). We will take it home with us and frame it with a photo we have of the caregivers holding him.

After we ate some lunch, the birthmom came in with a friend. It was an emotional meeting. We learned that she is originally from Hualien, and we were able to tell her we had visited that area on our trip and that was our favorite part of Taiwan. We are so grateful for the time we spent with her. We have some wonderful photos of her with our son, as well as all four of us together. I will treasure those photos and look forward to sharing them with our son when he is older.

A few more photos from our day at St. Lucy’s. . .

 

An emotional day

It was a wonderful day. We found out just a few minutes before going to the orphanage that our son’s birthmother would be coming to meet us. I had known that was a possibility but did not think it would actually happen. I will post more about our special day later but wanted to go ahead and post a few pictures of our first meeting.

Referral News: It’s a Boy!

We are delighted to announce that we have accepted a referral of a baby boy in Taiwan. Praise God!  This is perfect timing for us – Dave is eligible for adoption benefits through his employer beginning next week.  It’s amazing to see God answer our prayers and I am grateful He has given us this gift of a new son!

The call about our referral came as a surprise and I think I am still in shock.  We knew referrals from our agency have started picking up again, and had been told to get our paperwork updated last month.  Still, we thought it would be several more months until we were matched with a child.  When the phone rang on Wednesday and it was our agency’s director, I knew it had to be good news.  She told us about this little boy and said she would send us his file.  When we reviewed the file, we were cautiously optimistic, but wanted a doctor to review it before we accepted the referral.  While talking to the doctor, we learned she had visited this orphanage and she shared her experience visiting the orphanage where our son will live until we can bring him home.  She said the caretakers at this orphanage are phenomenal, and it is unlike any other orphanage she has seen.  She said if we can’t be the ones taking care of our little guy, we can be comforted in knowing that the caretakers at this orphanage are loving on him and taking good care of him.

So, what’s next?  Our paperwork was mailed to Taiwan on Friday and we now await orphanage approval of our application.  Once that happens, our paperwork will be submitted to court.  We won’t be able to travel until our adoption is finalized by the courts in Taiwan.  This process can take 4-6 months, or longer — I am hoping and praying for everything to go smoothly and quickly.