More Pics Before Leaving

Daddy finally found his hairbrush... it was at the Sheraton all along!

Poolside with mommy at the hotel. Jadyn is so enjoying the sunshine on her face.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Super Baby!

Our things are all packed up and we are ready to go. We'll stay here at the hotel until 6:00 and then we will head for the airport. We are tired and ready to come home, but yet we have so many sweet memories of our time here in India. I think Jadyn will do okay on the airplane. On the short flight from Kolkata to New Delhi she slept. We haven't seen her facial expressions at take-off yet. I'm sure those big beautiful eyes will get a little bigger. As we rode the taxis, rickshaws, etc, those eyes were giant sized at times and always looking around.

Okay to resopnd to some of the comments... Marilyn and Joanne-I'll be happy to go shopping one last time and get you some bangles (such a sacrifice to shop again-heehee). Natasha and others who are wanting to come to the airport- we would love to see everyone there! We will arrive at about 10:20 p.m. on Friday night. I can't guarantee we'll smell good or look very pretty, but of course miss Jadyn will be looking fabulous as always.

This will be our last post from India :-( I'll try to post again during our layover in Singapore, but we'll just have to see how it goes. Although maybe I shouldn't...I was giggling and blushing as I read over some of my posts this morning. As a new parent with jet lag, I cannot be held responsible for spelling errors and such. I hope it all made since, as they were just our personal notes posted during times of extreme fatigue and happiness. I've posted a few times with my eyes only half open. Anyway, so glad that all of you were able to share in our incredible journey. Wish time would've allowed us to post more. Thanks again to everyone and we will see you very soon! God bless!

Be Home Soon...

Jadyn enjoying the big bed in the hotel room! She is sleepy and ready for a nap.

Sweet baby girl... all smiles and showing off her new bangles daddy bought for her.

The auto rickshaws we rode(Don't worry grandmas... we were safe!)

We have had a great day... we just played and shopped and enjoyed being together! Daddy just spoiled his girls today! It was a great time of rest before getting on the plane for the very long ride home. Tomorrow we might shop a little more (heehee!) and then just hang around the hotel until it's time to leave for the airport. Shane and I have just laughed and had sooo much fun with Jadyn. She is always doing something so funny and cute.

Here is a list of just some of the adorable things she does:

-The way she throws her head back and laughs when we kiss her neck.

-The hundreds of different ways she she grins at us.

-The way she rolls her eyes up and hold's her mouth when she's feeling shy.

-The way she pats us with her tiny little hands when we are patting her.

-The way she sleeps between us at night and reaches out her little hands to feel for us.

-The way she babbles and talks so sweetly to the baby on the lotion bottle.

-Watching the way she looks at her daddy... he is an AMAZING daddy.

I could go on all night, but I guess I should stop. When you meet her , you'll know what I mean. I guess I keep saying it, but we are just SO happy. God hand-picked her for us... there is no doubt about it. We feel so honored and blessed to be her mommy and daddy. We are forever changed! Praise the Lord for his goodness and love for us. This whole experience from the first piece of paper we filled out until today has been one miracle after another. I can't begin to list all of ways God has shown His mighty hand in our lives.

We will try to post once more before we leave tomorrow. We will see everyone soon! We look forward to seeing all of you at the airport and we so appreciate all of the comments you have made. It means so much to know that everyone is thinking about us and sending up prayers.

Also... grandmas, she had the big BM!!! Yipeee! We never thought we would be celebrating poopy... my how life has changed!

Finished at the Embassy today!

Walking to daddy... isn't that the most adorable smile you've ever seen?

Sleeping Beauty

Telling Ms. Roy, the Orphanage Director, goodbye at the hotel in Kolkata

Wow... we have had such an amazing experience in India! We are tired, but so so happy! It has been so busy! We received Jadyn's Visa at the Embassy today so we are ready to travel home soon. We are looking forward to seeing everyone, but we are trying to soak up every minute of this experience that we can. What wonderful memories we are going to have to tell Jadyn about some day. India is an amazing place. It looks even more beautiful now seeing it through our daughter's eyes.

I can't begin to tell you all of the wonderful experinces we have had... but the best of all, of course, was meeting Jadyn for the very first time. I will never forget the moment I saw her. INSTANT LOVE! She is such a loving and sweet baby girl. We feel so blessed that she has bonded so well to both of us. We are both able to hold, snuggle, and love her all the time. She just looks back at us with such love too. It is truly amazing! She makes the most adorable expressions... she has all of these different little smiles that just melt your heart. Everywhere we go people smile and say how cute she is... of course we already new that. She has such a sweet little disposition. During the long day at the Embassy today she just slept and then woke up smiling. The doctors visit was a little scary for her though... when we had to undress her she cried and that was the first time we had heard her really cry loud. Thankfully, she didn't have to get any shots. We were so relieved because we hated to put her through that. Her weight was just over 15lbs which is what we thought.

We rode an autorickshaw yesterday to get the visa photos and shopped in the crowded streets of New Delhi. (Anila's brother helped translate for us and helped us bargin at the markets). Even though it is very crowded and busy, we have never felt unsafe. It's all just like a scene from a movie. You've never seen so many people in one place! It's true what everyone says about the traffic and the lines in the roads being just a guideline, and the honking too. However, Anila told me that the honking is not intended to be rude, as it often is in the US. It's just a way of letting people know you're coming. As I've watched, I've seen that this is totally true. They are never angry when their honking. They just don't give to one another at all when driving. They just keep right on going into oncoming traffic.I've never seen so many close calls in traffic, but I've yet to see an actual accident. It's all just like organized chaos.

We also ate at McDonald's last night, which is not like ours in the states. Shane was dissapointed... no hamburgers... just chicken sandwiches. Today, for lunch, we had VERY spicy Indian food, which was really great, but you really pay for it later (heehee!). Anila showed us how to eat everything and told us all the names for everything. It is considered very mannerly to eat with your hands, and when you're done with the meal they bring you this little basin of warm water with a lime in it to clean your fingers. You use the lime like soap on your fingertips to remove all of the spicy smells.

Tomorrow we have a free day since all of our business is done at the embassy. We were surprised to be finished with everything so soon. PRAISE THE LORD! We decided to treat ourselves and stay at the Sheraton Hotel until time to travel. The Clark was okay for a couple of nights, but the room wasn't that great and it's in a VERY noisy area. We felt that we really needed some rest before we make the long journey home again. We wouldn't trade our expereience there though, it gave us a great chance to see a whole other side of New Delhi that we wouldn't have otherwise. By the way... I would highly recommend the Sheraton in New Delhi to those who will be traveling soon. Great rooms, great service, just great all around.

We might do a little more shopping tomorrow and then on Thursday our plane doesn't leave until 11:00 p.m. so we are hoping to be able to make arrangements with the hotel to stay a little later. I will try to post again tomorrow and put up new pics... got the message mom : ) We love everyone very much. Keep us in your prayers as we finish up this incredible journey and begin our new lives as a family of three. (I love saying that... family of three!)

So Much Love!

I have so much to say and so little time. We are filled with praise and joy. Our sweet baby girl is a blessing. I honestly don’t know how we waited so long. All of the pain and frustration of the long process has just faded away and replaced with peace and joy. We just feel so full and complete now. Going to the orphanage was incredible! The moment they introduced us to her was just amazing. I can’t even begin to describe the feelings of love and joy. At first she had the saddest little pout on her face. But soon she melted in to my arms. Then Shane took her and she quickly bonded with him too. She is easily allowing both of us to meet her needs. She is just such a joy. We were able to tour the orphanage and take pictures of all the babies for the other waiting families. The orphanage doctor told us she is completely healthy and doing great! They said she is timid and quiet and rarely gets upset. This has proved to be very true thus far although we are seeing more and more of her funny little personality coming through. We are leaving for New Delhi in a few hours… I will post more when we get there.

Together At Last!!

She is beautiful, perfect, absolutely wonderful! We are all doing great. I will post lots of details soon. Just wanted to share our first pics of us at the orphanage. WE ARE SO IN LOVE!!!

Passport!

We received wonderful news from Tami while we were traveling... Jadyn's passport arrived and Ms. Roy has it in her hands!!! Praise the Lord!! God has worked out so many miraculous details for us throughout this process. Lenin and Anila found out that Jay has his too! This means our travel should not be delayed now... which means that grandparents can hold Jadyn that much sooner!

We are at the Singapore airport and still have a few hours until our flight. We did a quick foot tour today and did some souvenier shopping. We are having a great time. It was a little overcast so it wasn't quite as hot as we thought it might be (still pretty hot and humid though). Everything is very green and lush here... just gorgeous. We are so ready to head for Kolkata now.

Okay so really... my next post will be in India! Just had to let you know about passport while I had a chance. Love to all. God bless.

Sight Seeing In Singapore

Grace's Post:

Well... we thought the first post would be from India, but since we had a 17 hour layover in Singapore we had time to blog. The flight was very long, but Singapore Air has great service which helps. We are feeling pretty good this morning considering we traveled 25 hours total air time so far. We had to take a taxi to our downtown hotel. We tried to sleep a few hours last night, but we are both like two kids on Christmas morning... just ready to get up and go. It is about 10:30 a.m. here and our flight to Kolkata doesn't leave until 9:05 p.m. so we are going to take the free city tour of Singapore and sight-see a little. It's so nice to have our great friends Anila and Lenin traveling with us. We met them in LA. We will all venture out together today.
It's pretty warm here. When we walked out of the airport last night (at 1:00 a.m.) it was like walking into an oven. So... I wonder how hot it will feel when the sun is shining (eeek!). It's funny to leave temps in the teens and come to this. I had to shed layers as we went along yesterday.
We just finished eating twelve dollar pancakes (that's even half price since we are on a layover with Singapore Air) It was actually a buffet, but we mostly just ate pancakes. Also, this morning I got to hear Shane sing the Veggie Tales song "Oh Where Is My Hairbrush?" , as I forgot to put it back in the suitcase before we left yesterday morning. So I loaned him my comb. His hair looks great by the way. Anyway, love to all and we will post more tonight or tomorrow from INDIA!! Just one more night and we will hold our daughter!!! Yay!

Shane's Post:

Wow, outside of our little area is like a whole other country. Really if you've lived in one area all of your life and then travel to different lands, you have no idea. First, have that passport in a speed holster because you can't do anything without it. Second, ASK someone for directions, you may think you have plenty of time until you get lost. We asked and everyone has been very accomodating. Weird about currency, I have to ask every time so far, Singapore money or American? Breakfast was western style (meaning USA) but i've never had pork and beans with my buffet. Oh well, im still a giant at 6'2 feet tall over here and its kinda nice.

The Long Awaited Dream Begins!

In just a matter of hours the long awaited dream begins!! I feel kind of like I did the day before Shane and I married except the feelings are even deeper because we are now sharing the kind of love that only a parent can feel. I can't imagine how we'll feel on Saturday when we finally hold our precious girl in our arms for the first time! WOW!
God truly knows us better than we know ourselves. He gives us the desires of our hearts and only He knows how to really fulfill those desires. He has heard and answered our prayers for a child in such a wonderful and miraculous way.
Please keep us in your prayers for the passport situation to be completed, as we travel,and as we meet our baby girl for the first time... her little world is going to change in such a dramatic way. Also, thanks so much to everyone for all of the prayers, words of encouragement, cards, gifts of love, and just everything. We will never forget all the wonderful family and friends that have surrounded us during this very long and difficult wait. Little Jadyn could never begin to comprehend how much she is loved already, but she will soon find out.
Well... the next post will be from INDIA!!! HERE WE GO!!!!

The Time Has FINALLY Come!!!

I'm sooooo excited!! The time has FINALLY come. Let me say that again... THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME!!! YABADABADOOOOO! (Fred Flinstone... for those of you who were trying to look that word up in the dictionary) We leave on Valentine's Day- how appropriate is that? Also, we are so happy to be traveling with our friends Anila and Lenin. They are adopting a baby boy -Jay(who is such a cutie!) The three of them are going to make this very special trip even more special.

The last couple of days I've felt sort of in a fog or something (shock I think), but tonight it's like it's finally hit home... we really are going next week. We went shopping today and got all the last minute things we need for travel; however, I feel certain there will be at least one more Wal-Mart run before we finally take off. Shane and I had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants after a long day of shopping and discussed the fact that this would be one of our last dinners out with just the two of us. We have been married for thirteen years so we have had plenty of just the two of us dinners and they have all been great, but we are so ready for our baby girl ... bring on the highchair!!

The orphanage director still does not actually have the passport in her hands yet, but we have been told that it will mail out on Monday and we should hear on Tues. morning that she has it. Regardless, we've been given travel clearance and told that we might possibly be delayed a day or two in Kolkata. But that's okay with us as long as Jadyn is finally in our arms.

God is sooooooooo good. I just can't say it enough. I want to praise Him from the rooftops! One of my student's parents sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers to me at school yesterday and on the card she wrote this Bible verse ...

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Jadyn Spotted at the Movie Theater??

It seems there is hardly ever any news from India on Mondays. Maybe tomorrow?? I would love to hear that Ms. Roy has the passport in her hands. This is the only loose end that must be tied up this week. Can I add another MUST to that... and the sooner the better! We are a little on pins and needles, but we know that everything is going to be okay. God hasn't brought us this far to forget about us now. He is orchestrating everything so beautifully and making it easy to trust Him. Praise His name!

Here is a cute story about my little six-year-old niece... my mother and I took her to see Charlotte's Web on Saturday (great movie!). Just before the movie started she asked if I had Jadyn's picture. I told her yes and got it out of my purse to show her. She then asked if she could keep it in her lap so that Jadyn could watch the movie with her (I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time). So, of course, Jadyn enjoyed the movie right along with us... part of the time on my niece's lap and part of the time sitting in the cup holder. She got just a little sticky from the movie concessions (heehee). We all think about her all the time. Oh, how I yearn for the day when she really will be here with us. Let it be soon Lord!