Orphanage

What an emotional roller coaster yesterday was! We had a nice morning with Kinley. She sleeps so well once we can get her to close her eyes, lol. She has slept for 9 hours without waking every night so far--I know she would sleep longer but Jason and I wake her with the noise we make in the hotel room (and no, Mom, I'm not doing it on purpose, hehe). We went to breakfast then took a walk around Kunming, which we are staying in the shopping district. I never realized the Chinese people were so fashionable! I feel like a scuzball walking around in my comfortable clothes compared to them :) We tried to look for some cute China clothes for Kinley but most of the stores are women's clothing. We did see a lovely tea set that had goldfish painted on them, so we bought that to give to her when she gets older.



At 2 pm we left to go to the orphanage that she stayed in. I was very nervous about this but felt that we would regret it if we did not go. We were met by the orphanage worker that brought us Kinley on Gotcha Day. She said that currently there are 600 children at the orphanage, however nearly 500 of them are in foster care. Now remember, this is ONE ORPHANAGE in ONE CITY. There are many, many orphanages in China. Vivianne said that not all of them are "as responsible" as Kunming. The orphanage was very nice....big buildings and very clean. A playground, a few gardens, a library, etc. She told us Kinley started out in the clinic once she came to the orphanage from the hospital--this is where the children go "who are too weak to go to the regular nursery". We did not get to go inside the clinic. They took us into the play area where Kinley would go daily. I walked in the large room and saw these beautiful bundles laying in rows on the floor. I could not stop my mind from imagining Kinley laying there among those children and I just cried. Looking over the children their sad eyes just looked up at us and stared. They did not cry or flinch. We were not allowed to take pictures of this room.


My main concern was Kinley's reaction during the visit. She was just looking around, not really making eye contact at this point and was being very quiet. I had her in her carrier so that she could not easily be held by the Ai-Yi's (aunties). Next we went to the nursery where Kinley was. We did convince them to let us take pictures in this room, however we were not allowed to take any pictures of children. Again we saw several babies and one set of girl twins! Vivianne told us that any of the cribs could have been Kinleys. There are many cribs, probably 30 or more. We were told that the Ai-Yi's work 3 at a time, in 8 hour shifts in this room. Several Ai-Yi's during our visit knew Kinley and would come up to her saying "Wu Qi Ling", which is her Chinese name.


The best part of the visit was when an Ai-Yi that worked in the nursery came up to Kinley and tried to hold her hand---Kinley pulled it away! Then she held out her hands to hold Kinley, which I did not want her to do, so I just acted like "dumb American" and just smiled at her. Next the Ai-Yi came up and tried to put her hands in the carrier to hold Kinley and Kinley turned away from her and grabbed on tighter to me! This is the best reaction I could have hoped for.......my heart just sang! I walked out of the nursery and I think Kinley knew from that point on that I was not going to leave her there. She started to smile again at Jason and I for the last part of the visit. Kinley was so tired, but would fall asleep. She just kept blinking her eyes to stay awake. We took some more pictures of the buildings, statues, and garden areas. We also took some pictures with Vivianne and the orphanage worker. They asked us we if would like to stay longer and we said no. I just wanted to get my baby out of there! We said our thank you's and goodbyes and walked towards the door. As we walked out the gait I whispered to Kinley, "Mommy's got you Kinley. You never, ever have to go there again."


Within three minutes of leaving the orphanage Kinley was sound asleep on my chest. Once we got to the hotel I attempted to take her out of the carrier and she woke up crying. It was the very first time Kinley let me put her to sleep while holding her (not in the carrier). Later, at bedtime, she let me put her to sleep in my arms again! I am hoping this continues because it's very hard listening to her try to soothe herself (because that is what they did in the orphanage).


For supper last night we went to a French Cafe---who would have thought I would be so excited about a tuna fish sandwich, lol! We walked to Walmart after to get some more bibs. Now Walmart is pure madness....and China is much different regarding safety codes than the U.S. There is no such thing as suing anyone in China, which means sidewalks and other things are not always in the best conditions. While in Walmart, lets just say I had quite the spill over a pallet I did not see laying in an aisle. No worries, except for a probable broken toe, a few scrapes, and hurt pride, I am ok, lol.



Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;

and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

--- Matthew 7:7-8


xoxo

Heather