Gotcha Day

Dear Vivi -

One of the most amazing things about adopting you is how much it mirrored having your brothers the old-fashioned way.  Not the physical way that you arrived, of course, but how for the nine months that your brothers each spent in utero, we waited and planned and waited and prepared and waited and dreamed and waited.  The waiting seemed interminable until the last minute and then there you were, and it seemed like we needed to get to know the beautiful you, and yet simultaneously, we have somehow known you all along.

I would challenge anyone to find a more excited group of people than the families who wait to claim their children on Gotcha Day. Here is a last picture of Daddy and me as we wait in the hotel lobby to get on the bus to get you.

We pulled up to the building where you would be handed over to us.

Daddy signed a last minute paper.  I was so excited, I don't even know what it was.

Our first glimpse of you in the arms of one of your caretakers from the Baobei Foundation, Lilly.

First smile already!

Sharing her "Piggy" with Mommy.

Finally in our arms.

Love at first sight.

Getting to know Daddy.

Already a ham!

You like to share!  There's hope for your relationship with your brothers.

No bottle or sippy cup necessary for this big girl!  You insisted on drinking like this all by yourself.

Safe.

Everyone in our group commented on how pretty you are.  They're totally right. 

Taking a few tentative steps.

Daddy is a very good helper.  He's had some practice with this.

Wanting to play with some of the other kids in the small play area.

Trying out the slide.  I can just see you and your brothers playing together on playgrounds now!

We ate lunch just before 1:00 p.m. local China time on December 2, which means that it was just before midnight on Sunday, December 1, in the states.  Daddy and I sang, "Happy birthday to you" so you would get the teensiest taste of a birthday together.  No cake, but you were all about chomping on the bread I wasn't eating!

Playing in the hotel room after lunch.

Most children arrive on Gotcha Day with the clothes on their backs and, if they're lucky, a small toy or other outfit that belongs to them. You arrived, Vivi, with two full suitcases and, best of all, notes from the foster mothers in your "healing homes" and thumb drives full of pictures.  I told Daddy he's traveling with another girl now.  It's a whole new ballgame.

I took this about two hours after you started playing.  No naptime for you, and the toys just somehow exploded all over the room, like they do with other toddlers.  There was no mistaking that you had arrived.

Little beauty.

Finally asleep.  You didn't nap, but you did pass out between the hotel and the restaurant that we went to for dinner, which is just next door to the hotel.  We had to settle you down again after we changed you, and then you were down for the count.

Oh, dear Vivi, there are so many things to write about.  We have so much knowledge now about where you have been and what you like and how much you've been loved and just how spunky you are. We learned today that, in more ways than one, it truly is a miracle that you are here.

But for right now, we will focus on the fact that 10 families in our group welcomed 10 children into their hearts and lives today.

10 children got the gift all orphans deserve: a family who loves them.

10 sets of parents finally held their children in their arms after months or even years of waiting.

10 families were changed forever in the most beautiful way today.

Thank you, God, for our baby girl.  Thank you for all that she means to so many already.  For all who have loved her and prayed for her and played an active role in uniting her with her very own forever family.  For those who care and advocate for orphans and love these children with your love.  For the deep feelings of love and attachment that we already have for her and with her. Thank you for the second best Christmas present ever.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy