Gotcha Day: Sophia is ours!

Today we started early--4:15am. Actually, we couldn't sleep, either because the Vikings were on at 2am or because we were so excited to meet Sophia, depending on who you ask. We left for the Beijing airport at 5:30 and flew out at 8. After a 3 hour flight, we landed in Guangzhou to 65 degree temps and about 2 hours before we would meet our little princess. We had our first McDonalds over here, unpacked, and gathered our stuff for baby day--diaper bag, cameras, passports, paperwork, and of course, money.

Upon arrival at the Civil Affair4s office, our hearts were pumping fast and our stomachs were full of knots and butterflies. It was surreal. We got our temperatures taken (odd!), filled out some paperwork, and waited on some couches for a nanny to come in with our baby...then we thought we saw her! As we have never officially met, it was hard to be sure from across the room, but she was littler than we expected, so that threw us off a bit. We were right, though--it was her! About 5 minutes later, they brought her out and it was so wonderful. She came right to me and didn't cry at all at first. She definitely was overwhelmed though as she looked all around at the other babies and new parents and her own siblings. It's weird to think that she's probably never left the orphanage and gone to a big city or even ridden in a car. She had to travel 2-3 hours to get to Guangzhou from her orphanage, so she was probably in shock before she even saw us!

She did pretty well for the 45 minutes we were at the office. She was held by the whole family at one time or another and OK with it all. She wasn't crying like some of the neighboring children. She fell asleep in my arms as we were getting ready to leave. That lasted through some of the bus ride home, but unfortunately for her own schedule, she really didn't get a nap.

Back at the hotel, she wasn't so keen on eating, but we think that was just the shock of all she was experiencing. The kids tried so hard to engage with her, but she seemed to enjoy quiet a little more. I'm sure that will come soon, once she gets used to us. She tolerated her bath pretty well and smelled quite a bit better when she was done. She's a little tiny girl around with kind of long legs, toes, arms, and fingers. She has adorable eyes and really long eyelashes. And they did not shave her head! Very happy about that. She's sleeping now and David and the kids are out grabbing dinner. Tomorrow there is more paperwork and she becomes officially ours. The rest of the week, there will be more of the same, some sightseeing, some shopping, and a doctor's appt.

Please pray for us as we adjust to each other. Pray for her eating and for Marcus and Lauren's adjustment as well. I think they thought it would be pretty easy, and it will take a couple days before she feels comfortable around all of us. We are all so very happy! The waiting is finally done.