GOTCHA DAY!

Finally, we have her! She's sitting right here in the hotel room as I write this. Jason is playing with her on the floor and she is doing beautifully!

Let me start from the beginning......we met our guide at 2:15pm and arrived at the Civil Affairs Office about 20 minutes late. We knew that she was already there so we wouldn't have to wait long to see her. We entered the room where all the child meetings take place. It is surrounded by a red couch and there were about 5 or 6 other couples there with their new children. We had a small, but scary, glitch right away. When our guide came up to us with the paperwork and told us to check that everything was correct....it wasn't. The only thing on it that was right were our 2 names. Our passport numbers weren't ours, our address was listed in Scottsdale, AR, and the worst part.....the child's name was a completely different name. For a minute, all we could think was that they had brought the wrong child to us. Our guide panicked for about 10 seconds and then double checked other papers. "you're adopting Sui MingJuan?" We said we were and she said it was all okay. The paperwork was wrong, but we had the right child. Good lord, talk about a crazy thing to worry about for that couple minutes.

At that point, she said it's time to go see her. She's coming. We got up from the couch just in time to turn the corner in the room and see her coming in the door. Walking at first, then picked up by her caregiver when she wouldn't come any further. It was so surreal to see her in person. I really expected her to look more different.....after all it has been about 8 mos. since her referral photo was taken...but she didn't. She looked like our Livi. The one who's face we've memorized for the past 6 mos. and she was precious.

I didn't cry like I thought I would. I got choked up, but mostly all I could do was smile and hold her. Actually, I had done my crying earlier that day....a couple times. Just the anticipation was worse than the actual moment. Jay and I just stood there holding her and talking to her for a long time.

Finally we had to go sit down and do some paperwork. Jay did it mostly while I held her and showed her some of the toys we had brought. Her favorite thing was the small Magna Doodle. She just kept drawing and looking around. She didn't cry, ever. Mostly, she just looked confused and a little scared, like she didn't understand what was going on.

After some paperwork was done, we were able to meet the orphanage director and caregiver. We gave them each a gift and were allowed to ask some questions about Livi. They told us what she ate and how much. We asked them what they called her and they said something a little different than we've heard so far. It was pronounced like Ming-king with the king part having a raised fluctuation. Hard to explain and actually a little hard to say too, but it was interesting to hear since that was news to us. The caregivers told our guide that she is a very easy going child. She has definitely shown that so far this evening. We told them thank you for taking such good care of her. They seemed genuinely sad to say goodbye to her and you could tell they cared about her. That made us feel good.

One of the best things we received was a total surprise. We were given a piece of paper with a small piece of cardboard taped to it. It is from her birth mom. It was left with her when she was abandoned. It has her birth weight, date, and time. Just to have that is such a treasure. It just tells us that she cared about her and maybe just didn't feel like she had any other choice.

We got her back to the hotel, changed her, played with her for a bit, and went to get some dinner. The best thing happened at dinner when I started to play with her and she smiled real big......I even got her to laugh a bit. It was the cutest thing ever! We ordered her some chicken congee (which is basically rice cooked to mush with lots of water and some small pieces of chicken). She liked it okay, but didn't eat much. Not what we were told, as they said she has such a big appetite, but today has been a long and hard day for her so I'm sure it's because of that. I had tried to give her some water earlier in the hotel.....in a sippy cup, a regular soft cup, and a special bottle with no luck from any. I'm not sure what to do about that yet, I'm going to try again here before bed. I hope I can help her better this time, she just doesn't seem to know how to drink from anything. We'll figure it out I know.

I'm gonna sign off for now. I'm giving her a bath, trying a bottle again, and then it's bedtime. She's had a very long, emotionally trying day so I'm sure she's tired. I'm hoping she is able to sleep well tonight as I'm sure she needs it and I know I do.
Thanks for all the continued prayers, we really appreciate it.

Day 5 - Part one

So, part one of day 5 is about the hotel since the best part of Day 5 is yet to come. I thought I'd do this part now. We checked in yesterday and got up to our room and it is so nice. We have an amazing view! It was pretty foggy when we arrived, but this morning was much clearer. We're right on the Pearl River on the 18th floor. It won't be hard to call this home for the next week and a half.

This morning we got up early....again....got ready and went down to breakfast. The buffet was huge and soooo good. Much better than the hotel in Beijing. Omelets made to order, french toast, fruits, hash browns, sausage and bacon, and anything else you can imagine. This comes free with the hotel cost every day, so we'll be starting our days out with a good meal.

The inside of the hotel is beautiful. There's a waterfall and pond with tons of fish.........the boys would love this place.

When you leave out the back of the hotel, the outside street is very quaint. It's lined with little shops and a park. There's a couple places to eat along the way, some more different and authentic Chinese than others.

This morning we saw a group of women exercising in the park. We were told that since not many people have a car and it's far to go to the nearest workout place, this is the way they improvise. This is probably part of the reason that I haven't seen one overweight Chinese person yet since we arrived. I'll take some more pictures at night sometime because there are lights in the trees and a lot to see that's not open right now.

One funny thing, while we were walking down the street we were stopped by a Chinese man who asked us where we are from and if we are here for an adoption. We said we were and he asked us about her and told us congratulations. Then he introduced himself as Jordon, a local shop owner. This is so funny because my friend, Sue, told us about him. She said to look for Jordon, then she said...no, actually, Jordon will find you. Haha.....guess she was right. He told us to bring her down to see him and he will do her name in Chinese for free. Very cool.

Well, it's about 10:15am and we are meeting Lucy, our guide, in the lobby in 4 hours. My stomach is in knots, I could hardly eat breakfast. I am considering taking a nap just to make the time go by faster, but then I'd have to redo my hair and makeup. We'll see. For now, I just want to go and get her. I'm so ready.

Day 4 - One more day

Today we left Beijing and flew to Guangzhou. This is where we will now be until the last day here in China. We got checked in to the White Swan hotel and it is, by far, the nicest place we've ever stayed at. It's beautiful! We have only seen a small portion so far because by the time we checked in, put our bags in our room, walked down the street to get some dinner, come back.....we are beat....again. I'm saying that a lot lately, aren't I? Our days are so full that we're pretty tired by the evening. I am keeping tonight's post short and will try and update tomorrow with more hotel pics and stuff. I'm hoping to do that before we go to get Livi cuz I'm pretty sure you'd all think I'd lost my mind if I posted hotel pics instead of her. haha....The plan is to meet our guide in the hotel lobby at 2:15pm to go to the Civil Affairs office and meet Olivia for the first time. It's hard for us to believe that at this time tomorrow night, she'll be with us. We just had a knock at the door and it was someone bringing us a baby crib. That makes it pretty real seeing that next to the bed. This hotel is known for hosting adoptive families so we have seen several already with their new little ones in tow. Very cool. I suspect we will be getting to know some of them throughout the next couple weeks. Well, that's all for now. I will get some hotel pics tomorrow and try and post them before going for our GOTCHA DAY. Til then......adios! Whoops, wrong country.

China Day 3 - Forbidden City

Here we are on Friday, March 5th, and it's our last full day in Beijing. We decided to get in all we could since we're leaving tomorrow for Guangzhou.

After breakfast we got a map from the front desk, asked our friends here for some advice, and braved the subway. Holy cow...that's worth a post all by itself. To say they're crowded is beyond an understatement. Just when you think no one else can fit in....10 more people come through the door. You get very cozy with the people around you. We were a little nervous because it's so easy to get turned around and lost with such a language barrier, it wouldn't be fun. Well, we did okay. We accidentally took the correct subway, but going the wrong way. We had to get off and find the right one back. What should have taken us about 15 minutes took us more like 40. But hey, we got there and learned what we did wrong so we won't do again.

We went to Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. It was pretty amazing. The Forbidden City is where the Ming Dynasty and other lived and ruled from 600 years ago. No one at that time was allowed in the main door until centuries later. It's full of palaces and gardens and the place where the Empress lived. It was very interesting and I kept thinking how much Tyler would like it....he loves that history stuff.

Tonight we're going to Pizza Hut for dinner with the other couple. Afterwards, Jay and I are going to the Chinese Acrobat Show. I'm really looking forward to that. I will post about it tomorrow.

Until then, thanks for all the well wishes. I can't see my blog here, but I get emails of your comments so I see those.