The day I met my son

At 9:30 in the morning we took a bus with five other couples from our adoption agency to the local civil affairs office. Everyone was so nervous and excited, including us. It was so hard to believe that the moment we had been waiting for over two years to happen was actually here!

We had been warned that it could be pretty chaotic and random when we would actually meet the kids and when we would be doing our paperwork. We got off the bus and right away a lady asked if our son was from Zhoukou and my mind went completely blank. She asked again, and it finally registered. She said “He’s right inside the door!”. I think my heart stopped. When we walked a few steps and got inside the door, she pointed to him standing a few feet away with some Chinese adults. He looked so tiny. He was wearing all pink and had a Mickey Mouse hat on and he looked just like his pictures. I knelt down to him and he just looked at me with no expression, then someone gave me a cookie that was wrapped to give to him. I unwrapped it as I stared at his face. I could not take my eyes off him. And I couldn’t stop smiling through the tears.

(some of these photos are from an iPhone and the quality isn’t great)

He was the first child there, so everyone was just standing around watching us and taking pictures. It was a really emotional and surreal experience. A lady motioned that she wanted to take a picture with me and Sawyer, then another lady did the same thing. I assumed they were with his orphanage and found out later they were. No one spoke very good English, so it was pretty hard to figure out what exactly was going on.

I kept feeding him and he liked that a lot. They told me he was thirsty, so I gave him water to drink, and he just quietly let me hold him. The office started to get full of other kids being brought in and it was pretty loud, so hubs took him and Avery outside on the steps while I finished paperwork with my shaky hands. I asked if I could ask his orphanage workers some questions about him. I asked questions like does he take a nap, what does he like to eat, what is his personality, favorite toys, etc. They answered the best they could. Then I went outside with hubs and Avery and we played with Sawyer on the steps. I had brought some little toys and books along, and he got really playful. We made a children’s book with picture of the kids, our house, grandparents, etc. that we showed him, and he loved to look at it.

It was so special to see the other families meeting their children for the first time. After we received our children, we hopped in the bus and headed back to the hotel with our kids.

We gave him a bath, which he loved, then he showed us how much he likes to eat. I was really unsure what he would be able to eat because of his cleft palate, but he is an eating champ and figures out a way to eat anything he can. An answer to prayer, that’s for sure.

Bringing Avery along on the trip was such a great decision. She loved him from the minute she saw him and they have a very special bond. I can’t wait for Violet and Jack to meet him, too.

HIs name is Sawyer Tian. His Chinese name is Kui Tian, and we are keeping his middle name.

Our first day was not at all how I pictured it would be – it was much more peaceful and natural than I anticipated. He seemed to accept almost immediately that he was ours and that we would take care of him. I expected a much harder transition, but it went incredibly well and we are so thankful!