Gotcha Day!

Well, I already told you that today started with getting on the bus at 5:40 a.m. The airport was a little trying as we had a delay of an hour waiting for other passengers for our flight. It wasn't exactly easy for expecting parents who really wanted to get out of Beijing!

We got to our hotel around 12:30, checked in, ate, cleaned up and headed to the Civil Affairs office across the street for our appointment to pick up the babies. When we walked in the room, eight of the 14 babies were already there. It was a sight to see with everyone staring trying to figure out if any were theirs. We were unsuccessful with our guess as she has more hair now than we expected.

The hand off went very smoothly for us. Sarah just kept looking at everything with a very serious expression. She was holding a clementine in her hand and kept it there for over an hour without dropping it. She finally put it down in exchange for a toy back in our room. I would say she has been very observant trying to take this all in and scared of course. Her only rule so far has been - please don't put me down lady! So far John has not held her, because she is not real sure about him and we don't want to push her.

As you can see, she has plenty of cheeks! There is a buddha belly under that outfit to go with them. I'm putting her in 12 months clothes tomorrow, so we will see how they fit. The hotel has provided a crib with bedding, stroller, potty chair and a bathroom scale. I didn't think about it until just now that I can obviously use the scale to figure out how much she weighs. I was wondering why a hotel room would have a bathroom scale!

She has taken about 8 ounces of formula and a few Cheerios so far and is sleeping well. We will see how she sleeps tonight. She has a little bit of congestion, but nothing too serious. She does have eight teeth already. My goal is to see this little girl smile! Her whole face is so serious as she has observed everything so far. It will be nice to see her relax.

To sum up the day, it has been an experience I will never forget. Not just in our gaining Sarah, but being a part of watching 13 other families grow simultaneously. We have all been waiting over two years for this, and yet we all felt unprepared somehow I think.

I was struck by a line from the agreement we had to sign this afternoon. Appendix 8, item II states:

• 'Party B will adopt the abandoned baby as their adoptee and promise never to abandon or abuse him or her. They will have the responsibility to take care of and educate him or her to guarantee his or her healthy growth.'

I pray all parents agree to these terms for their children, and I praise God that he has already made these promises to his.