Gotcha Day!

I started the day around 5 am - who could sleep on a day like today?

She would be here in just a few hours.

Because of a huge China and ASEAN (Association of South Eastern Asian Nations) Expo taking place in Nanning this weekend, our adoption process is getting sped up.  What took two days last time with Emmett is being done in one afternoon.  So, because of all that, they were actually bringing Yue Lan directly to our room!  We didn't have to go to some civil courts building or anything, we just waited here.

It actually made me more nervous in some respects.  I was fretting that it would be awkward to have a bunch of Chinese officials hanging out in our teeny tiny room.  And there would be no other families there for support.

But, it turned out just perfect.  We could here the other families around us being introduced to their children.  It helped to know there were others close by!

(Side note:  About an hour earlier while we were waiting there was a knock on our door and we thought it was them.  We opened the door, all excited, to see a hotel maid asking if our room had already been cleaned.  Talk about a let down!!!)

They brought Hazel to our room last.  She just walked right in and waved to us.  She looked a bit nervous, but so brave!  She said "Ni Hao Mama, Ni Hao Baba" and we were in love!  We asked if we could hug her and she said yes:)  I can't explain how I felt.  It was like literally having someone in your dreams materialize before your eyes.  I know that sounds mushy, but it's true.  It was a miracle!

It turned out that it was actually pretty great having two orphanage workers and the orphanage doctor right there to answer all of our questions.  We learned a lot about Yue Lan:

1.  She has only had one surgery ever - when she was 6.  That is good news!
2.  She does not take any medication, and hasn't since her surgery.  More good news!
3.   She is in her 2nd year of school ( they start kindergarten when they are 7 in China), but knows how to
read and write simple words!  She wrote her name for us:)
4.  She likes to do art, watch cartoons, play Barbies (Lilly was excited about this!) and dance.
5.  She loves to eat and is not picky!  (She tried pizza later that day for the first time!)
6.  She loves to shop:)

I am sure there was more, but that is all my overloaded brain can think of right now.  She seems to have been well prepared for having a new family.  She had the scrapbook and clothes we sent her and she said we looked just like our pictures!

We spent the first half hour or so watching as she showed us all the things she had in her backpack - mostly candy and treats.  Then, the next half hour showing her all the stuff we had for her in the backpack we brought.  She was really excited about all the new little goodies.  She especially liked the Squeekies Lilly picked out for her.  I guess girls are girls no matter where they come from!

Then the officials left and we went down for lunch.  (We had about an hour before we were bused over to the notary building and the adoption center).  Lunch was super fun.  Hazel discovered a love of our camera and took about  a million pictures of her new family.  She thought I held chopsticks funny since I hold them so low, and she thought Baba was interesting because he was using a fork.  She said she had never used one before, but gave it a shot and handled it like a pro...the knife on the other hand... 

After lunch, it was off to finalize the paper work.  We got to meet up with the other families at the notary building.  There are 8 families here all together.  We are the only ones from Wasatch, but there were 3 from Holt, and the other 4 from various agencies.  We were so happy to meet up with Jane from Holt again!  We were hoping to see her here!  She was excited about our new adoption, but reprimanded us for not using Holt again:)  She also kept telling us that one more would be good!  Ah, maybe not...

Anyway, the other families are really nice.  There were 2 single women, and the rest traditional husband/wife teams.  One family especially touched my heart.  They had this teeny girl that I thought was about 8 or 9 months old but turned out to be 2!  I didn't ask, but I hope she will be all right now that she has a family!  There were also two mentally challenged girls - one with down syndrome and the other with cerebral palsy.  I am always amazed at the love people have to open their homes to children they know will be a challenge for them.  Makes you realize that despite what the media implies, there are still wonderful people in the world!  And I am so blessed to be associated with them!

Well, all went well and the paperwork is complete.  Hazel's pass port should be here on Wednesday and we leave Nanning on Thursday before the Expo begins on Friday.  
 
The rest of the day was spent eating dinner and getting acquainted in our room.  We called Lilly and Emmett and they had the chance to talk to Hazel for the first time.  The kiddos were so excited to hear their new sister.  They practiced saying "hello" and "I love you" in Chinese and Hazel practiced her" hellos" in English.  It was all very fun to watch!

After, I showed Yue Lan pictures of her new room and more pictures of Lilly and Emmett.  She soon took over the mouse and looked at the pictures over and over naming the kids and pointing to her new bedroom and saying "Yue Lan."  Looks like she is really understanding things even though we don't speak the same language!

Finally, I am happy to say that Hazel loves taking baths (just like Emmett) and was thrilled to see her new pink polk-a-dot nightgown.  I can't wait to dress her up and do her hair tomorrow!  Until then, enjoy some pictures...

A photo slideshow by Smilebox