{"id":31165,"date":"2016-05-16T19:00:25","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=31165"},"modified":"2016-05-17T10:25:16","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T15:25:16","slug":"adoption-update-we-are-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=31165","title":{"rendered":"Adoption Update- We are home!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Hi everyone.\u00a0 First of all, Yankee and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your prayers and sweet comments while we were in Thailand meeting Little Miss. \u00a0It was so touching to us, and we are glad we have been able to share our adoption journey with you.<\/h3>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have to let you know that due to our agreement with the Thai government, we are not allowed to show face photos of our daughter till she is legally ours. \u00a0 \u00a0In Thai law, we have a period where things are provisional, and now that we are back in the states, we will have a social worker visit and do reports \u00a0at our house at the two, four and six month window. \u00a0After those reports are filed, we will \u00a0be able to apply to be her legal guardians and change her name to have our last name.. \u00a0Let&#8217;s just say all of this the paperwork isn&#8217;t finished, but the long wait it is so worth it<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will never know the feeling of going to the hospital and giving birth, but I can say the moment I saw my daughter in person, my heart melted. \u00a0I cannot imagine being a mother any other way, and I am so grateful for our daughter and how I became\u00a0 her mom. \u00a0She might not have my height or look like me, but that is the last thing I even think about when I see her. \u00a0When I look at\u00a0my daughter, words cannot describe my love for her or how I want to protect her.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My mom did a great job telling how things went in Thailand so if you missed it, read her summary <a href=\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/2016\/05\/01\/adoption-update\/\">here<\/a>. \u00a0Otherwise, here are some of my words on the process.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We met Little Miss with two other families at the same time they met their children, and it has been so nice to meet these families and go through the same emotional roller coaster. We really enjoyed both families, and their children are adorable. \u00a0We have a special bond with them.\u00a0 On the first day when we were at lunch with our children, we were sitting across from one of the families, and the new mom was holding her son. \u00a0She looked at me and said, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t this the best feeling?&#8221; \u00a0Yes, yes it was. \u00a0The process to meet our daughter was gradually spread out over a few days.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the first day I was so excited and nervous. I started crying the moment she cautiously walked into the hotel room where we all were sitting on the floor waiting. \u00a0Her social worker brought her right to us, and she just looked at me and then looked over at Yankee. \u00a0The social worker explained in Thai that we were Mommy and Daddy and showed her the picture book we made her months ago. \u00a0At this point, Little Miss along with the other children, were all crying. \u00a0I was also a hot mess as I was tearing up with excitement seeing my adorable daughter for the first time. \u00a0Right off the bat, the social worker had us pick up and hold our children.\u00a0 Little Miss was not pleased, and she continued to cry, but I loved every moment. \u00a0This was it. I was a mother, and I finally was able to hold my daughter for the first time.<\/h3>\n<h3>The same day we were able to meet Little Miss&#8217;s foster family. \u00a0I can&#8217;t even write how this was so special to us, and I am so grateful we were able to make that visit. \u00a0I look forward to telling Little Miss all about her foster family, and the special people that raised her. We feel this was an important part of her story, and we have been showing her pictures of her foster mother. \u00a0She smiles and loves looking at them. \u00a0We have pictures of all of us together, and she points and smiles.\u00a0 I learned this was only the second child that the foster mother had fostered, and it was the first that the child was placed for international adoption. \u00a0The foster mother was older, and Little Miss called her grandmother.\u00a0 In Thai it&#8217;s &#8220;Ya.&#8221; \u00a0The foster mother also lived beside her two sisters-in-law, and Little Miss also called them &#8220;Ya.&#8221;\u00a0 So, my daughter had three grandmothers doting on her for almost two years. \u00a0How lucky was she to have so much love.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The foster mother wanted to know more about us and asked for us to send pictures when we get home and in the future. \u00a0I promised I would send her pictures. It was the least I could do. \u00a0She was concerned for Little Miss and only wanted the best for her. \u00a0I felt bonded instantly to &#8220;Ya&#8221;. \u00a0Asking questions, we learned lots about our daughter, and it was fun hearing stories that we look forward to telling her when she gets older. \u00a0We were able to tour the grounds where she lived and play and even meet her playmates. \u00a0She does like to chase dogs and cats, so I am thinking she will get along great with Gracie. \u00a0Plus, I learned I have a little dancer on my hands when the music starts playing. \u00a0Again, this was so special.\u00a0 I am so thankful we had this opportunity. Oh, and she has started to break out some dance moves which we call the Stevie Wonder. \u00a0#adorable<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The following day the social workers brought the children back into the city, and we went on a\u00a0 shopping adventure. \u00a0We needed to buy diapers, shoes, and a few of her favorite snacks. \u00a0This was the day that we learned she loves to be held but only if we are standing up. \u00a0The moment we bent down a few inches to sit, she cried. So, standing it was. The social workers said don&#8217;t worry, and that it was normal. \u00a0 At one of our hotels the staff knew we couldn&#8217;t sit, so they had a high top table for us to use.\u00a0 When they saw us, the set the table for us, and Yankee and I took turns standing and eating with her. \u00a0Not sitting was making us nervous for the long plane ride, but after four days and lots of play, we were able to sit and hold our daughter. \u00a0Now that we are back home, she has regressed some, and we are back to the standing versus sitting for a big chunk of the day.\u00a0 Our Charlotte social worker said to not worry about it and that she needs comfort and reassurance.\u00a0 All you adoptive mammas out there should have told me that I needed to lift weights. That&#8217;s the one thing I wish I had done beforehand. \u00a0I think I am on my way to Michelle Obama arms!\u00a0 If you start with an infant, then your arm strength develops as the child grows.\u00a0 All of a sudden I was carrying a 26 pound child around, and my arms did get tired and sore.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Thailand we had to have an interview with the adoption board. \u00a0These are the folks who approved our adoption, and this was one of the final steps.\u00a0 Nineteen families were there that day for the interview (they only meet twice a month.) \u00a0We were the first family to go, and there was a panel of maybe nine people.\u00a0 They all had our huge file of home studies, references, and everything about us translated into Thai. \u00a0When we entered the room, they asked us to sit, and I explained our not being able to sit.\u00a0 They were fine with that.\u00a0 It seemed as if they had seen that many other times before. \u00a0Little Miss cried the whole time they asked us questions, but they understood the grief and changes our daughter was going through. \u00a0The last thing one lady on the panel asked me was if I was happy. \u00a0I don&#8217;t know what it was with the tears again, but I smiled, cried, and said, &#8220;Yes, I haven&#8217;t been happier.&#8221;\u00a0 She told us congratulations and thanked us for adopting.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once that big step was finished, we headed to the US Embassy for her Visa interview. We learned her travel visa would be ready earlier than expected!\u00a0 (She was issued a Thai passport and needed an American travel visa to be able to enter our country.)\u00a0 We still had a five day wait, but we were able to change our flights to come home a few days early.<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-31279\" src=\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IC.jpg\" alt=\"The 2 Seasons\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IC.jpg 720w, http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IC-242x323.jpg 242w, http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IC-300x400.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once that step was complete, we left Bangkok and headed to a resort in Hua Hin, which we arranged before we left home.\u00a0 We traveled by van with another family, and it took us about four and a half hours to get there. (Thank you traffic.)\u00a0Hua Hin is a beach town, and our resort (we stayed at the Intercontinental) was just gorgeous. I told Yankee it was just like one of the places that they would stay on the hit show, &#8220;The Bachelor.&#8221; Little Miss did not like the sand, but eventually with lots of playing and toys, we got her into the pool, and she loved it. \u00a0Plus, it was so hot.\u00a0 It felt like 116 degrees, so, the pool was very refreshing. \u00a0We learned our daughter LOVES to drink the juice from young coconuts,\u00a0 and she loves watermelon. \u00a0The girl gets so excited for these things.<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-31280\" src=\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Sensory-Board.jpg\" alt=\"Sensory Board\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Sensory-Board.jpg 720w, http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Sensory-Board-242x323.jpg 242w, http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Sensory-Board-300x400.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At this point we are now home, and there are still lots of tears, but she has started to show her personality. Yankee put together this sensory board that she LOVES. \u00a0She will be smiling and laughing but she will catch herself having fun and start crying. \u00a0It is a process and she has to go through grief.\u00a0 We heard all the stories about her chatty personality, and it has been so fun to see it all come out.\u00a0 We Skype with my parents every morning, and they have already seen changes in her, and she has spoken several English words.\u00a0 We wanted to get settled in at home before having visitors, but Mom arrived last night.\u00a0 She returned Gracie whose world is about to change.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Cheers!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi everyone.\u00a0 First of all, Yankee and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your prayers and sweet comments while we were in Thailand meeting Little Miss. \u00a0It was so touching to us, and we are glad we have been able to share our adoption journey with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31165"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31165"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31285,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31165\/revisions\/31285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}