"Gotcha" day

The day finally arrived!!!  Up early to catch a flight to Nanchang, Jangxi and over to our hotel for a 4:30 appointment to finally meet our daughter.  Travels went smooth, and the agency has done a great job at making sure our worries are limited, at least related to the travel and paperworks aspects of the process. 

We were finally able to meet our daughter and her first impressions of us were "less than impressed" :).  Lots of tears all the way around, but as expected. 

We met her caretaker and the director of the Social Welfare Institute (SWI) where she has been living.  You could tell how much they loved her, and that she has been in good hands during her stay.  They left us with a necklace for her and a few more details about her routine and what she likes. 

 

Unfortunately she has been dealing with some type of reaction that has caused her to break out with a bit of rash.  Fortunately we have some medicines, and some medical folks in our group. 

The initial meeting and time was a bit tearful.  It seemed that her lungs and vocal cords were gaining strength with each passing minute.  We did finally get her up to the room and quieted down a bit.  She appeared to be fighting a smile, and finally caved in unders Sue's relentless comedic assaults.  Soon enough we saw the smile that we have been waiting to see, and the personality we were told of that was full of joy.  She is definitely a bit of a peanut, but absolutely precious by every account! 

We made it through our paperwork for the evening, a little bit of food-cherrios are a hit, a bath, and finally bedtime.  She is now sleeping peacefully in her "cat pj's" and being attentively watched by both of us, as we wait for our food to arrive.  Yup - didn't factor in that we were going to have to eat as well somewhere in the evening.

So AWESOME day, very long, but I think we are going to be able to handle this :).  Tomorrow we are off to the Civil Authority to get our official documentation and guardianship.  Thanks for reading and more to come tomorrow. 

And for those of you who are heading here next week (LISA-YEAH!) Sue wanted me to tell you the carry on restrictions were not enforced(inter country China flights), you can take a carry on and a personal items.  BUT you are only allowed 44 lbs for your luggage per person. It doesn't matter how many bags you check but if the total of them is over 44 lbs per person then there is a charge...hope that helps.(we had about $50 for our extra bag).