Our first day together

Gotcha Day started out pretty relaxed. We prepared the room for Sophie's arrival and then walked around the island (Shamain Island) for a bit and found Lucy's for some lunch. For those of you who are not familiar with the whole China adoption process, Lucy's is a restaurant on Shamian Island that serves American style cuisine. It was such a nice day out, we sat outside at an umbrella covered table and had a cheeseburger and fries. It was quite good! We had to be back in the lobby at 2:15 to meet our guide to go the Civil Affairs office to get Sophie. The drive was a bit hectic, as most drives are anywhere in China, but we arrived safely.

When we walked in, there were people everywhere! Our guide suggested we find a place to stand to wait for Sophie. She brought over some paperwork for us to fill out and suggested we go into one of the rooms to fill it out. My heart was racing, as everyone was talking and I knew in just minutes we would see our daughter in person for the very first time. The paperwork was finished quickly, and we went back out into the room to wait. I gave the video camera to the guide and the digital camera to Bo to take pictures and as soon as I turned around, there she was walking toward me.

I just knew she was going to start screaming, but she didn't. I picked her up ever so slowly and sat down with her. She stood straight up on my legs! I talked to her for a few minutes and kept telling her that I was her Mommy. She finally sat down, and I kept talking to her. We went back into the room where we had previously done the paperwork so that our guide to talk to the orphanage worker and ask some questions about Sophie. Turns out that she was the one who would go out and check on Sophie when she was in foster care. She said Sophie was very smart and loved to explore and figure out how things work. She also said that she was bossy around other kids!

While our guide was talking to the orphanage worker, Bo did a little paperwork while Sophie and I played. We played with the stacking cups and Mardi Gras beads. Both were a hit. In just a few minutes she was smiling and even laughed a few times. We left the Civil Affairs office shortly after and came back to the hotel to do some more paperwork. She played with Bo and me very well. Later, we walked down the street to the Italian restaurant and ordered a pizza for us, and some chicken and rice for Sophie and came back to the hotel to eat. She ate a very good dinner before getting a bath. I put her down at 9:00, to which she objected, but I laid down at the foot of our bed where she could see me, and she quickly drifted off to sleep. She slept until about 5am!

We have been so blessed, and our prayers, and yours, were heard. We appreciate them all so much!

Thanks for all of your sweet comments! We really appreciate them as well!