Hope: One Less: Day 25

Last night before bed, she made it clear that she wanted Mama to put her to bed (which is every night if she had her way). Chris told her goodnight and she said, "Love you, see ya." It was pretty cute.

We are trying to keep things simple these last few days in order to cherish the last few moments we have with her. Her birthday party obviously wore her out because I finally woke her up at 9:00. She wanted scrambled eggs for breakfast. She also wanted ham and bread so I made her a panini and she ate 1/2 of it. Still trying new things her last week. Since she was up late, the morning went super fast. We worked on packing her bag for Friday and playing with the balloons from her party. Bessie found her hospital bear and thought it was her toy. She quickly corrected her by saying, "no, no, no Bessie." For lunch, she ate fried rice and meatballs. She also got a call from her Orphanage Chaperone to prep her for her departure on Friday. She listened intently and shook her head a few times. We soon received a text from the Chaperone's host family warning us that she did not want to go back to China. I guess that is a good problem to have. We have been feeling overwhelmed and our emotions have already been running high from exhaustion, the good-byes to family, and Friday looming.

She took a long nap this afternoon. I woke her up after 2 1/2 hours. We had a little time to play before dinner. Chris entertained her with his phone. For dinner, she had two helpings of pepper steak. We had visitors tonight, and I wish I could have captured her excitement when we told her Kinsley was here. She started jumping up and down with her hands in the air and shouting "yay, yay." Dale can partially vouch for it because he saw it though the window. In addition, to Brooke, Dale, and Kinsley, we also received a visit from Brian, Jen, Charlie, and Savannah. We were basically reliving our playdate from a week and a half ago but had the benefit of extra adults to supervise the little ones. As expected, the girls played with the birthday party balloons, barbies, colored, cheered, and sang ring around the rosie. If only we could bottle their energy! She got to hold baby Savannah (she is obsessed with babies). Unbeknownst to us, my sister and I purchased the same jammies for Kinsley and her. She is so observant that she figured it out one of the times we FaceTimed. We wanted to get a picture of them together in their matching jammies. While we were having so much fun (*mass chaos), it started snowing. This is likely her first time seeing snow. She and Kinsley kept going to the window to watch it and we brought a little inside in a bowl so she could touch. She just kept staring at the window taking it all in. It was a great evening but she had to say goodbye to Brooke, Dale, and Kinsley. We will probably FaceTime later this week. But when I told her during bath that she would not see Kinsley again, she pretended to cry (followed by laughing), but I think she understands. We marked off the calendar and counted that she has 3 days left.

Chris:
I had an early morning at work which allowed me to get home to spend a majority of the day at home. I got home as she was eating her second plate of lunch. I did some work this afternoon but was still able to maintain a fun environment and engage with her. She was eating Chex Mix but would frequently drop off the unwanted pieces in front of me. Looking back at the game I could read deeply into the meaning of it all which at the time seemed like a simple game of eat my garbage.

I am pretty sure that these last few days will be the best and hardest. The reality is setting in that our time as a family is coming to an end, however, she was very clear today with the Chinese chaperone that she did not want to return to China. The idea that she doesn't want to leave our home is making our hearts feel like we have done a good job with her though I know we have a few difficult days ahead. Please pray for us that we are fulfilling God's Will in this process and that he will comfort us on Friday as we watch her walk onto a plane back to her home half way around the world. God Bless!