A year ago today- June 9th

This day started off E.a.r.l.y.
We were asked to be at the orphanage when little G woke up so we could go through her morning ritual and spend the day with her. We had gone to the Supermaxi the night before to purchase breakfast food. Basically cheese and bread, bottled water.
I wish I had taken more pictures. I felt like my camera was attached to my face as it was,
there are so many photos I wish I had,
I was busy living in the moment.

We arrived at the orphanage at six or six thirty.
We took G into the bathroom and there was a real bathtub, one or two regular sized toilets and a deep sink. The tia told me to put G up in the sink and bathe her there. She showed me how to run a bucket of warm water and once G was washed in the sink use the water in the bucket to rinse her with. I brought little Gs Dora towel and got her dry as quick as I could. One thing I really remember about being there was not ever getting a nice warm/hot shower ......and feeling so cold as I hurried to dry and dress. I promised myself I would never forget the luxury of having hot water as long as I wanted...... and not worrying about if it got in my mouth.
I brought a play dress for her to wear,
forgot matching socks so she wore the ones from the day before,
stripes and flowers- we made a great statement!
They brought out her black boots and I changed to her new Keds I bought at home. (I remember one of the little ones telling the tias that little G had new shoes)
The tia felt like little G needed to wear a shirt under the dress,
wouldnt have been my way of doing things,
but when you have women that have loved your little one for years for you,
there is a humility about it all.
I remember people hovering around us,
I did feel unsure about myself.
Brushing her teeth for the first time,
combing her wet hair and trying to not pull yet get it all out of her face.
that has been a learning process!!!!
I have taken care of many many little ones over the years.
But there is a process of figuring out each other's language.
A dance shall we say.....
I appreciated their wisdom in letting the family meet the childs needs as part of the bonding process. Feeling her rough skin and being taught how to rub her special lotion in.












We went on a walk around the campus.
It is such a beautiful place. I have more pics to show you.....
You can see a child being helped walk with a walker.
Ive heard she has a family working hard to get to Ecuador this Fall.
They actually have a preschool on campus.
The children were read a story and the tia did exercises and stretching with them. They threw, Uh I mean played with the legos and at the play kitchen. Some of the little ones had such vibrant and out going personalities. giggle giggle......




I remember all the little ones jockeying for attention. Wanting little Gs Mami and Pappi to play with them. They were fascinated by all P's hair. Little G because very possessive and it was good for us to have housing away from the orphanage for many reasons. I really had wanted to stay close by and be involved with things at the orphanage but I am so thankful that God knew how little G needed our trip to go.

A midmorning nap. those first few days were so hard on little G. Around ten thirty or eleven she would just fall asleep wherever she was. Loving a new family is hard work for such a little person!
We left the orphanage for the afternoon. We were supposed to eat lunch and siesta while G had her afternoon nap and then return in the afternoon. They called a taxi for us and once we arrived at our apartment we discovered our host was out for the day. We didnt know where to go, how does someone in the midst of Quito that doesnt speak Spanish figure out a safe place to eat? We ate our packages of peanut butter crackers- my mother sent them for just-in-case. Thanks Mom! Then some of the bread and cheese from breakfast and moaned and groaned about how tired and hungry we were.Remember we ate cheese and bread early so breakfast had worn off a LOOOOONG time ago. I just remember wanting to sit down and cry I was so tired and wanted real food. So, I came up with an idea. We hailed a taxi and went back to the orphanage. I still have the 3X5 card we used. We took blank cards so that our hosts or wherever we were could write the address and phone number for us on the card.(phone number for once we got a cell phone.) In English we wrote who it was. We get in the taxi and hand them our 3x5 card and off we went!
There we were in the office trying to explain our situation. They called for take- out chinese! We still laugh today that our first two days in Ecuador we had pizza and take out Chinese. Hey, what are you going to do? We were thankful to have food in your tummy is what we were! So little G nibbled on our food with us and we played outside. (she seemed starving anytime anyone had food.She wanted to eat hers, yours, and everyone elses! I have seen her settle in and learn that its okay to be hungry and she has learned to share her food. This is a huge step for an orphan! Dont get me wrong. The orphanage where G lived is beautiful and I know the children never go hungry.There is just a mentality that goes with being an orphan and food- trying to fill the void with food)