Heidi is busy holding our grieving little girl. So I (Jeremy/Husband) am writing this post.  We know you are anxious to see pictures and see how gothcha day went.  So I’ll do my best.

We started the day off by meeting our guide (Anna) at 9am.  It was about a twenty minute ride to the Civil Affairs building.  I told my wife, Taylor and Kennedy that I was more nervous about this adoption than the birth of our two kids!!  As we approached the Civil Affairs building, I turned to check on my wife and kids.  Heidi started crying and said, “She’s here!”  Heidi saw her through the window in the lobby sitting at a bench. She had a red and white striped dress with a lacy came sol, socks and cute sandals.    She had a sucker clinched in her fist.  There were four or five Chinese ladies telling her about her new “Ba Ba and Ma Ma.”  We stepped in the door and she saw us.  She immediately started crying…..no sobbing!  I mean snot flowing, tears falling sobbing!  She cried for quite awhile….probably an an hour long!

We gingerly approached her and tried to bribe her with some suckers, doll, ball, etc…nothing.  She obviously needs time to grieve the loss of her foster family and we want to respect that.  BTW, we are so thankful for her foster family.  She was obviously taken good care of and was loved.  Side note…we received a scrapbook from the orphanage detailing her life.  This book we will forever cherish!  The foster family sent us pictures of them.  One of the pictures shows all the family.  In the background of the picture is a large picture of “The Lord’s Supper!”  I asked our guide where the picture was taken.  She said at their home!  She said they were “Christians!”  You don’t know how much that picture meant to me!!!! To know that our daughter was raised in a Christian home especially in a non-christian culture was comforting!!!!

Heidi has been a real trooper.  Her motherly instincts kicked in.  She held her until Mollie fell asleep in the van on the way back to the hotel.    Mollie awoke as we got back to the hotel.  As we were walking to our rooms to fill out the rest of the papers, Mollie smiled at Taylor and Kennedy!

Ok, Heidi here…..Baba is on grieving duty.  She has taken well with both Jeremy and myself.  Which I am so thankful.

You can see that the grief is coming in waves.  She will be fine and then it will hit.  It truly has been so heartbreaking to watch.  She was taken from everything she knows this morning and then handed off to total strangers!!  Although, she does know who we are!  As Jeremy wrote, she received her care package from us back in January and has seen our picture!!!  Hence the total meltdown in the lobby!!

Right now, she is doing much better.  She is laying on Baba’s belly and thinking about falling asleep.  She has taken a few Cheerios from us, so we are thankful.  Kennedy was videotaping her on her iPod and she saw herself and waved!  Precious!

They just handed her a toy cell phone and that seems to be something she is liking very well!!  PTL for small miracles!!

We haven’t taken anything off of her.  She has several mosquito bites on her and she’s allowed me to put some cream on her.  She likes water.  She is potty trained and after she did potty we washed her hands and she seemed to really enjoy it.

I know she will love bathtime, but that may come in time!!!  When we go back to the Civil Affairs office tomorrow, she may be wearing the same outfit!!  We will let her lead the way and she can make that call!!

She still has a pacifier, and she can keep it for as long as she needs it!!

Continue to pray for her and for us.  We know she was loved and cared for deeply.  That makes my heart very happy.  Because she has attached to her foster family, she can attach to her forever family!

Our family of “4”
Civil Affairs Office
Trying to calm her down…..didn’t work there….:(
Didn’t work here either!! 🙂
You can see the sadness in her face……breaks my heart.
Signing the papers…..:)
I’m about to just “take” her……hard stuff.
My first time to “hold” her…..very surreal!!
First family photo!!
On the way back to the hotel
She’s decided to give me a good look…..that’s promising!
This girl likes water and likes to wash her hands!!
Found out she kinda is liking this guy!!
She is letting both Jeremy and me comfort her. That is a miracle!!
BTW, just found out that I think she’s going to be attaching to Jeremy first!  He and Kennedy left to run to McDonald’s and bring lunch back.  Mollie Xiu and I were in the bathroom and when we came out, she lost it when she couldn’t find them!  She kept opening the closet doors and looking for them, sobbing the whole time!!

Taylor and I were able to get her to fall asleep and that is where she is right now.  We are trying to decide if we should take off her shoes!!  I would love to bath this girl and put a bow in her hair, but I might just wait on that…..