Day Two...A Little Harder

We're writing with a lot of different emotions this morning. We were amazed at how happy and comfortable Anara seemed with us the first day. The first half of yesterday wasn't too bad, either. But it started getting a little rough yesterday afternoon and through the evening. Anara definitely has a cold and seems to be quite bothered by it. Her nose is runny, she has chest congestion that is bad enough that she winces when she coughs, and she's had a fever. We've given her medicine and taken care of her the best way we know how. We may be having an American doctor come and see her today, which will hopefully make both Anara and us feel better.

The saddest, thing, though is that she just hasn't been the happy baby she was. She isn't smiling as much and doesn't seem comfortable either being held or put down. It's like she's confused with what is going on and just can't get comfortable. Last night she did a lot of rocking and head-banging and hair-pulling in her crib, which Amanda says is a sign of an institutionalized child. Since she never really had anyone to soothe her, it is her way of trying to soothe herself. So it kind of hit us that this transition probably isn't going to be as easy as we would like. As I write this, though, Anara is sleeping soundly in Amanda's arms.

On top of all this, we are really starting to miss Violet. I know, we haven't been gone that long, but it sure feels like it. Amanda's mom sent some pictures that she took of her yesterday and it broke our hearts to look at them. We just hope she knows we're coming back.

Not that the last day was all depressing, though. Yesterday our driver, a 22 year-old student here, took us to a market where we loaded up on souvenirs. We wanted to try and get as many cultural relics as possible, things that couldn't necessarily just be bought online, that would be useful in teaching Anara about her home culture. He also drove us around so we could take pictures of some of the prominent city places, including parks, universities, government houses and a carnival, complete with bumper cars, karaoke machines, and mule-cart rides.

For lunch we went to a pretty trendy looking restaurant, and about halfway through our meal we noticed that some Americans had sat down in the booth behind us. We could overhear some of their conversation and figured they could probably hear some of ours. So as we got up to leave, the woman sitting there (with her daughter) commented on how pretty Anara was and asked if we were visting from the States. We said what we were here for and she told us she was here with her family working for a community development initiative. As we talked a little more, we came to find out that she was actually a close friend of the American woman who is here helping coordinate our adoption! And, that she had actually prayed for Anara that she would get adopted! She got teary-eyed coming to the realization that this was the baby and the family that she had prayed for. So we pick a random booth in a random restaurant and somehow make another connection. Add this to the list of "coincidences" and "good timing" that have marked this adoption process from the very beginning and it's almost impossible not to believe that God is orchestrating it all.

We will leave tomorrow, God willing, to go to our next destination to go through the second half of our process. We don't know what to expect at the Embassy there but are just praying for everything to go through so that we can come home when we are supposed to. We're very much looking forward to staying with and spending time with our friends there, for the additional encouragement and taste of home.

Please continue to pray for our bonding and attachment with Anara, for her cold, and for all of our paperwork and approvals to be passed without problems. Also, pray for Amanda and I, that we would enjoy our time together and be an encouragement to each other through the hard times.