Our first full day with Anjali

The day went pretty well considering all of the changes that have taken place for this little girl. We woke up this morning (after she slept for 10 hours straight) and went down to breakfast. Anjali ate a great breakfast with some of it being Indian. We found out she loves eggs with some type of rice mixed with them. She also loves milk which is something that she is used to having but she likes it lukewarm and with a little sugar. After we went to eat we went out to the pool. She wasn't too fond of the pool and was just happy to stand by the lounge chair. She also didn't want much to do with Kevin at the pool. It kind of started after he took off his shirt so we thought maybe it was that she was not used to that at all. Later she warmed up and we took a walk on Juhu Beach (on the Arabian Sea) which our hotel is located on. She was giggling at Kevin after we came up from the beach and were rinsing off our feet with the water sprayer. I took her to the room after this and she said her first words to me since we took her yesterday. She became very expressive when she noticed the bag of hair accessories that I brought along for her. It was great to hear her talk even though I really didn't know what she was saying. She also gave her first kisses to mom and dad today. It was awesome and an amazing feeling especially after her sorrow yesterday.
She even looked at a picture book (thanks so much Dave and Mary)with Dad and repeated most of the words after we said them in English. I am certain she will catch on to English rather quickly. She also said her sister and brothers names today.
We hired a private taxi driver to take us Bandra tonight to do some shopping at the markets. The private drivers are responsible for your safety down there and the whole time they are with you so it was really nice to have him close to us tonight. It is like a zoo out there with so much traffic and so many people. When we arrived back at the hotel Anjali was so tired so I got her ready for bed. She was in one of her phases of not wanting Kevin to help her again. She had some milk, brushed her teeth all by herself and then I laid her down. She was very tired again tonight and fell asleep quickly. She is now sleeping soundly. We have learned so much about this precious child in one day it is amazing.

Some things we have learned about Anjlai:
She loves hard boiled eggs
She loves her hair accessories, bracelets and dresses
She is used to a routine of when she eats and sleeps
Warm milk is one of her favorite things to drink
She prefers her mommy when she is tired
She loves to look at pictures on the computer that we have taken
She doesn't care for the pool (but does enjoy taking a bath)
She is so special--People around here tell us how "lucky she is" but we are the ones that are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives.

Thanks to all of you who have sent us comments--It means more to us than you can imagine when we are so far from home. A, M and N we miss you so much and can't wait for you to meet your little sister. She is going to love you guys! Thanks R & S for all you have done--We appreciate it so much!! Thanks too for your continued prayers for our safety and our bonding with her. This whole experience is almost impossible to put into words and we are so thankful for all of you who have supported us in our call to step out in faith!!

We have Anjali

What a day it has been. This morning Kevin and I enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then waited for our driver to get us and take us to pick up Anjali. We arrived at the orphanage and met with Anjali shortly afterwards. We brought along a bag of candy to share with the other kids in her room. She seemed so proud to be able to hand these out to all of her friends and they were so excited to be getting a piece of candy or as the kids call it "chocolate". We then played with Anjali and had a great time just getting to know her. She was doing good this morning and continued with the smiles to both of us and holding our hands. Kevin and I then left for lunch and the social worker told us that we could take Anjali for lunch with us. Kevin and I decided that this would not be a good idea to take her out and then have to take her back for the afternoon for her farewell party and our last meeting with the social worker to discuss her schedule and things like that. Turns out we made the right decision.
We arrived back after lunch and met with the social worker and then went out to see Anjali. She did not come to us as quickly now and looked at us like "you're still here?" and each of us said hi to her. This is when her wonderful world came crashing in on her. She stared to cry quietly and tried so hard to hold the tears back. At this point they still had to have the farewell party for her and she did not even look at us during this. This was heart wrenching but we both knew this was part of the process and that we knew she really did love her friends and staff workers. We talked with the social worker and she said most kids cry and that this is normal. We knew it was but it was so hard to see her heartache. We walked to the entrance of the orphanage and one of the social workers was carrying her and Anjali was crying. Kevin carried her to the cab and she started kicking, flailing and crying loudly. We knew at this point as we were driving away that we needed to let her work it out. She cried for about 5 minutes and then started settling down and sat on Carmen's lap for the hour and a half ride to our hotel. She was very quiet for the ride.
Once we got to the hotel we had a woman who spoke Marathi tell her what we were doing and that we would stay at this hotel for a few nights and then another one after that and then we would fly home on an airplane. I think it was comforting for Anjali to hear someone who spoke her language. The language is a barrier but we know with time that will come.
After we arrived at the hotel she started warming up to us again and wanted to hold our hands. We even seen the smile again tonight.We are getting eye contact and she accepts our affection and hugs and kisses although doesn't give them back yet. That will come with time. I gave her a bath tonight with bubbles and she seemed to really enjoy it. We washed her hair and she looked so cute in her new PJ's.
We are so happy to finally have her with us even though it was heart wrenching witnessing her grief and sorrow today. She is sleeping soundly right now and it only took her about 5 minutes to fall asleep. We are so in love with her already and are so excited for friends and family to meet her. She is a beautiful blessing to our family.

More pictures

The pictures

Here are the pictures from today.

A day to remember

Hello from Mumbai India! We made it on time and things went very well. Thanks for all of your prayers for safe travel as we definitely felt God's peace and protection. After 4 hours of sleep we woke up this morning to go to the orphanage to meet Anjali. The excitement driving there was unbelievable and the driver even got lost a few times so the ride was a little longer than expected. The sights that we saw on the way were at times very difficult to see and it made us really appreciate what we have been blessed with.
We arrived at the orphanage and first of all meet with the director who talked with us about Anjali and told us a little bit about her and how they have been preparing her for her parents to come. Hearing her say "Anjali's parents" was so great to hear. We couldn't believe we were so close to finally getting to meet our daughter. We waited on the couch just inside of the building for the staff to bring her out and we imagined what she would look like and how she would react to us. She came peering around the corner like she was "Miss India" herself. They had dressed her in an Indian dress with shoes and a headband in her hair so she would look beautiful. Many of her friends followed behind her. The staff then said to her "Anjali here are your parents-Mommy and Daddy."She walked over to us and we both held her on our laps.It was a feeling we had never experienced before and it was amazing.
We then hung around the orphanage with her and walked around to the different areas of the building. She was quiet the first half and hour but then did start warming up to both of us. As we took pictures of her several other kids wanted to look at the pictures on the camera with her and they would say her name and then at one point she said "mommy and daddy" while pointing to us in a picture. It was priceless!!
We were able to be in the lunch room as all of the kids ate and she was doing great laughing with the other kids and even wanting mommy to help her finish her food. We even heard giggles from her today.
We'll tell more of the details later but for now we have some pictures of our first meeting today. We are so excited for her to meet her brothers and sister, other family members and friends. God's plan has been revealed to us with the blessing of Anjali. We both walked away today as we left the orphange that God placed her in our family according to His perfect plan. She is definitely a blessing from God.

Our last post from home

We are leaving for the airport in about an hour!! We can hardly believe this time has come but we are so excited. We are trusting in our great and powerful God who knows the path before us and the journey He has put us on. If you would pray for the following things we would be so grateful. Please pray for safety while traveling (the next 19 hours), our first meeting with Anjali and her bonding/attatchment with us, our health, and that God will be close to our kids at home as we will miss them so much! I know this is several requests but we pray that God will answer each one as He sees fit. We thank you so much for your encourgaemnt and prayers that have led us thorugh this amazing journey and that will sustain us the next nine days. We give God all the praise! Our next post will be from India!! Thanks for praying!

The waiting is almost over!

In one week from today Kevin and I will be on our way to Mumbai!! We fly to Detroit with a stop in Amsterdam and then on to Mumbai with a total travel time of about 19 hours. We will arrive in Mumbai at about 1:00 in the morning their time Thursday which is about 1:30 in the afternoon Wednesday our time. We are busy packing away and getting all of those last minute details figured out and in place. This has been an amazing journey for our family and we are looking so forward to finally meeting this little blessing that God has given to us. We thank Him for the many ways in which he has guided us in this journey and pray that his protection and peace will be with us as we travel and for the kids at home. Pray that Anjali will do well with meeting us as the world that is familiar to her now is about to change so much. We can't wait to finally see her in person in 8 days!