Meeting The Kids!!

The day had finally arrived!  After nearly 6 years of dreaming, 2.5 years of searching and 5 months of prepping, we were finally to meet the two children whom we had selected out of hundreds of orphaned children to host through Project One Forty Three, who would possibly become our son and daughter!  The months leading up to June were filled with more stress, paperwork, money and time than I can fully express.  I could break it all down for you item by item and hurdle by hurdle, but that would be lengthy and rather boring.  So I will jump right to the good stuff and the news that I know you have all been waiting for.

After doing some serious cleaning, shopping and planning, and after dropping off Calista, Bridget and Tennyson with friends, Keiffer Penelope and I were on our way to New York City.  Actually, we were to be staying in Jamaica, New York, which is right next to JFK airport.  It was my first time in New York, so I was in awe.  We made it to our hotel way later than anticipated and only had time to go grab a late dinner.  We went to a Jamaican restaurant on a street corner, and quickly realized that we were the only white people there. In fact, the only white people in the whole neighborhood!  It didn’t matter to us but just made us look like the only smart white people in town who knew where the good food was at!  Definitely a culture shock though, as most of the people were literally Jamaican with accents and all.  That and an awful lot of extremely high stilettoes and some seriously tight dresses!  Anyhow, we had a good experience but were ready to get the baby to bed and meet the new day.

Arrival day had finally come and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.  They were clammy and I was so nervous.  So many thoughts were going through my head, and my nerves were firing off.  Keiffer kept telling me that everything was going to be okay, but it didn’t help much.  Mostly I was nervous that we would all be let down.  Such high hopes and expectations had been made on my part, and I’m sure the kids as well, and I was terrified of something not going just the way we had all planned.

Dressed to impress in our patriotic gear, we loaded up the car with our gifts, balloons and sign and headed to Queens to pick up our professional photographer.  Yes, we hired a pro to capture the event for us, but the best part is that he did it all for free!  I emailed a bunch of wonderful photographers in the New York area asking that they donate their services to us for this special occasion, and Melvin Gilbert excitedly accepted.  He said he had always wanted to do something like this.  We picked him up and headed to JFK.

Once there we met up with Project One Forty Three, and some other host families. 

A woman had received a picture on her phone of the kids when they were at the airport in Europe, so everyone was passing the phone around trying to spot their kids, including us!

After reviewing details of the program, and chatting with other excited parents, it was time for the kids to come out of customs and head our way. We stood at the end of a long walk-way where people were arriving from flights.  Kinda like a red carpet area you see celebrities walk down, only no red carpet, and definitely no fancy gowns and suits.  We stood anxiously with our American flags waving in the air and a sign held high in the air with their names and faces for them to easily see.  Then all of a sudden, we saw a sea of yellow hats coming our way. 

They put all of the children coming from the same country in the same color hat so they are easily identified. Towering above all of the rest of the kids we got our first glimpse of our 6’1” A!  My heart pumped as I was not expecting such a huge boy!  I don’t know why but in my mind my 14 year old boy was going to be shorter than me.  Keiffer joked, “Ah and he’s got his hat backwards looking like a thug!” Then I hear Keiffer say excitedly, “Oh, I see E!”  I looked around and there she was in a messy pulled back bun and yellow hat, my tiny little European girl.  She looked around nervously trying to spot us.  When we all caught eyes I could see their nervous smiles.  Keiffer and I joked that we needed to curb our enthusiasm a bit as we didn’t want to scare them off with our flapping American flags and our obnoxious waving.  

We made our way through the sea of united families, and gave the kids each a hug.  They were both very nervous and shy.  It was awkward because we all didn’t really know how to act toward one another. I started asking questions and making comments about how excited we were that they had arrived, but they didn’t lead on that they understood what we were saying. We joked at how tall A was and how tiny E was. 

Neither said a word the whole time we were in the airport, but instead just nodded and smiled.  I grabbed the interpreter who was their chaperone and asked if she could translate for us.  I told them that we were so excited that they were here, and told of our plans for going back to the hotel room.  After translating a few things, the translator turned to me and said, “I think they are just being shy.  They actually speak more English than you think”.  The kids giggled at this, but I was still under the impression that they could only understand basic things.  We offered them water and took them to the restroom.  On the way A. gave Keiffer a box of chocolates from their country, which he was very excited about!  We were not expecting a gift from them!  I took E. with me to the restroom and asked her if she was tired.  She shook her head no.  I said in a silly way, “Are you ready to party?”, and she laughed and shook her head yes.  E. immediately took hold of the stroller and started pushing Penelope.  I could tell this was going to be a good match.

After hanging around and waiting as our photographer took pictures of all the families, we headed back to the car.  At the car, E. dug into her backpack and handed me another box of specialty chocolates from their country as a gift!  It was so cool and unexpected. 

We got stuck in pretty bad traffic on the way back to Queens and ended up taking an exit and dropping Melvin off at a Subway station instead of his apartment.  The kids were starting to fade and it was only around 3pm in New York, but was 11pm their time. It was a very busy day of travel for them.  We swung by McDonalds to grab some food to take back to the hotel.  As we were navigating back to the hotel I was trying to communicate with the kids using an app on my phone called Google Translate. I would speak into it something like, “I’m nervous too.” And “This is my first time in New York as well”.  And it would speak the sentence back to them  in their native tongue but in a very robotic voice.  The kids just smiled, giggled, and looked a bit confused at the same time.

We arrived back at the hotel and began eating.  All of a sudden the kids started speaking… in English!  Like fluent English!  Well I sure felt like a dummy with all my google translating and talking to an interpreter.  The kids thought it was hilarious that they “fooled” us.  We gave the kids their “goody bags”, which had all of the personal hygiene items they would need, some clothes, underwear, shoes and some gifts.  

After a shower, A. and E. were in good spirits and began acting like kids.  E. even jumped up on the bed next to me and snuggled into me with a big hug, holding on tightly with gratitude.  It was awesome and very surreal!  We stayed up for another few hours and set up the movie Frozen on the lap top on their bed.  E. eagerly moved over for me to sit next to her.  I did and she snuggled into my chest and fell asleep.  A. fell asleep as well.  The kids both slept from 7pm to 6am.

We got everything packed up and ready to go, then headed down to the lobby for breakfast.  Not knowing what kind of nutrition the kids get in their home and what kind of eating routine they are used to, we were concerned about how the buffet would go.  I showed them everything that was available and they both chose a little box of cereal.  I got them some juice and some fruit and put it in front of them, along with some croissants.  I was told through host and adoption training that the best way to get a child to eat who has been in an institution is to place a variety of food in front of them and encourage them to eat.  I kept asking if they wanted this that or the other thing, but they declined.  They did however start snacking on the fruit, and both drank their juice.  A. told me that in their home, they have four meals a day and they can eat as much as they want.  Both kids are rails, with little more than skin and bones, so although they can have all they want, I am assuming it isn’t very nutritious.

We decided to head to Times Square in New York for a few hours.  Long story short, it was a disaster trying to get there, but after massive traffic, many wrong turns, and navigating through the subway, we arrived.  It was crazy, but the kids didn’t seem to mind.  They have been on subways and buses before, so it wasn’t new to them at all.  It was there in New York that I got my first glimpse of how protective A. is of E.  He was constantly by her side, watching her and making sure she stayed close.  He even helped direct her around sidewalks as she pushed Penelope in the stroller.  

We did just a little shopping, had some lunch and hit the road.  We hit some serious traffic trying to get out of the city.  It was stop and go for about 2 hours and E. ended up getting car sick and throwing up all of her lunch in a bag!  We also had to stop on the side of the road so A. could go to the bathroom.  Once out of New York, I switched seats with E. so she could sit up front to ease her car sickness, and it helped.  On the way home we stopped a few times, and at one gas station where we all got out, I was able to take some super cute pictures of the kids. Here is one of those shots, and one I don't have to put a heart over their faces!

We got back far later than expected and picked up Tennyson from our friend’s house at 10:30pm.  We decided to have the girls stay at their friend’s house until the morning.  Once home we showed the kids the house and their rooms.  They seemed to like them.  It was really great to finally be home and see what life would be like together.

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