dirty diapers and smiles

Greetings from the Shinn family!

We are the proud parents of three wonderful, beautiful children! What a day. Yesterday we left the resort at 2:30, leaving enough time (in the cab driver's eyes) to allow us to exchange cash before we went to pick up our kids. Well, it left us with more than enough time, as we arrived there at about 3:15, 45 minutes early for our appointment. Nervousness ensued as we sat and waited...and waited...and waited. Fortunately, Emmanuella (our interpreter) didn't let us just sit and wait in anxiety, but engaged us in conversation for quite some time, which was actually very helpful in easing my worries and passing time. 4 PM came and went. 4:15 rolled by. Then 4:30. So after waiting almost an hour and a half, we hear crying in the background. Our kids! We stood up to watch our three children walk in slowly, nervously, tearfully. we greeted them as best as we knew how, offering gifts, talking, smiling. I think they were all so scared, none of them really wanted much to do with us. But before long there were traces of smiles, a twinkle in the eye, a slight laugh. We left with the kids pretty much the same way as they arrived, Shirley and Juan David seemingly in a daze, Andres in tears.
None had slept much that day and were hungry, but before we could just go back to the resort we needed to get a few items that would make our lives here much easier. We stopped back at the resort to pick up the strollers and then began our first adventure together as the Shinn family: the supermarket! The interpreter and the taxi driver came along with us, helping us along the way, guiding us through the market, helping to carry all our stuff. Shirley took command early on, taking Andres in the stroller and picking out many items that she wanted. She seemed to take it well when we said "no" or when we tried to explain that we had such and such item back at the resort, and she was extremely helpful in picking out the items that our kids enjoyed. We could see the children warming up to us as we moved along, moment by moment, more smiles, more laughter.
After our fun time at the market, we arrived back at the resort and Janine changed a couple of soaked diapers. We quickly cleaned up and took the kids to eat. Here Shirley fell in love with the camera (I am pretty sure she is going to log the whole trip on film for us) and ate many, many tomotoes. The boys ate well, too, eating rice and bread and french fries. The staff knew that we had just met our children, and we were met with a big smile and congratulations from our waiter. Shirley applauded for herself as she cleaned off her plate and then continued to take pictures of all of us until the boys finished up.
We came back to the room and played for a little while, then Janine changed a stinky(!) diaper and we began to get the kids ready for bed. The boys were not difficult at all, as they had been drifting in the taxi earlier in the day, and they fell asleep after a couple of stories. Shirley was still full of energy and sat up for a while with Mami and Papi and played a little on the computer (she was writing a note on here last night, but got impatient with it:)). She finally settled down when we did and fell asleep pretty quickly.
We have not been short on affection from our children. There have been hugs and kisses and playtime and all sorts of chaotic fun. Today will be a new adventure, though, as we brave the pool and maybe go for a walk around the resort. The children are wonderful, beautiful, exciting, and we are so blessed to have them. I will post pictures later on, after I figure out how to do so (Janine is the one who usually helps me). Until then, celebrate with us, our children!