Gotcha Day!

Ok! I finally have a minute to put something together for all of you who want to see something from today!

First, let me say, she is perfect...She's precious...She's sweet and adorable!!!

Ok, so the day went down like this, we left the hotel @ 9:00 this morning & took a 15 minute van ride to the civil affairs office. When we arrived there was another family in the room with us and we proceeded to do the paperwork. We chatted and waited nervously and the other family's little girl was brought in. She was precious and a bit reserved.

Then in came our beautiful Chuan Si, or Si Si (pronounced Suh Suh) or, as you all know her, Ann-Jolie.

She had gotten car sick on the ride over so she was a bit pale and quiet.

I was told I could hug her so I did!!! I have a video so I will see if I can post it.

We stayed there with her for a little while and we were presented gifts and told all about our little one. One thing that both her nanny and the other woman from the orphanage said is that she is exceptionally smart! They said she seems to be one of the smartest children they have seen!!! Our guide also noted that he has never met a child this age that had such good communication skills--advanced language. He said he could easily converse with her no problem!

She already knew a few words of English, but not the ones that are important for us to communicate. She knew cat, dog, cow, banana, apple, and red.

She LOVES the Disney princesses!!!

She has been playing with everything and just loves the girly stuff!! She's a girly girl :)

She seems to be doing well & I'm hoping when bed time comes, she's still good. 

I could tell there was a bit of a connection between her and the ayi (nanny) that brought her. There was some hesitation when it was time to leave, but she was brave and never shed a tear. 

Peighton is SO excited for Ann-Jolie to be here! It's funny bc she keeps talking 90 to nothing to her as if she understands her. 

I'm sure I'll think of other things that happened that I forgot to mentioned, but right about now my brain is mush...and it's only 4:30 in the afternoon!

Here is what you REALLY wanted anyway....PICTURES!!!

Day 1 Shanghai

Today was pretty uneventful and I liked it that way.

We woke up waaaaayyyy too early & after being awake for what felt like half a day, we went to breakfast (which was interesting, but good) in the hotel. 

It was drizzling after we ate breakfast, so we waited for about an hour before going to explore the area surrounding our hotel. I will say that this is very different from our last adoption experience in Kunming, as there are Caucasians everywhere and we don't get stared at nearly as much. Anyway, I like the feel here and, for some reason, feel much less intimidated/phased by where I am than last year.

So we walked around for what seemed like hours. There are 2 very pretty/quiet parks right across from the hotel and a devine little bakery (where we snagged some goodies for us and for Ann-Jolie) around the corner. There are the most beautiful cakes there, and we plan on bringing her there after the adoption is finalized Tuesday to pick one out! 

We then went into a tiny (can't emphasize the word tiny enough here) little store to snag yet more little goodies and a few necessities.

We then retreated to the room and have been vegging out since then. I even washed a few things in the sink already.

We will probably stay in tonight instead of  going out to eat bc of the weather...That, and bc we're pretty pooped and want to be well rested for tomorrow morning.

Here are a few pics from the walk today.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow will be Gotcha Day!!!

This broom is the type of broom that you see ppl sweeping the sidewalks with..Check out the handmade-ness of it!!

Check out the flavors ;)

Yuck and yuck :p

Just made it!

We just got to the hotel in Shanghai a few minutes ago and it is VERY nice! We had easy flights and everything went smoothly, but let me tell ya....LOOOOONNNNGGGGG!!! Ugh! We are exhausted and soon we'll be taking some melatonin just to make sure we sleep through the night ;)

We'll be exploring around the hotel tomorrow and then Monday morning we have Gotcha day!!

Here We Are...

Here we are...

3 days from leaving to go to Ch*na,

and I'm thinking back to a day in the month of February...the 27th to be exact...

I received an email from a friend, who, had set it in her heart to help me find my daughter...

I shared my heart with some very dear adoption friends that I felt God was calling us to China again.

This time for a little girl who was "older".

The search was on.

I had so many advocate friends who, so kindly, were sharing beautiful child after beautiful child.

One of them was Ann-Jolie...I just didn't know it until 2 weeks after I saw her face.

I remember Sindy sending me the email with this picture of a beautiful little girl.

Her face seemed so serious...in thought...

She was beautiful, but her "special need" scared me.  There was this long list of things that I could not understand...Medical terminology that seemed far too much for us to handle...I didn't even try at that time to get her file reviewed.

I moved on...

Two weeks later, in utter frustration and grief for turning precious face after precious face away, I was about to tell God, "No."

I couldn't take it...It was too hard, and quite honestly, I was tired from the emotional roller coaster that our family had been on that year previous.

I told the Lord that I would continue only if He revealed who my daughter was on this ONE particular day.

"I will find my daughter today, or I'm done."

And then God....

I had friends frantically searching for me...I looked at file after file...face after face...

And then I felt a prompting to "go recheck your email for files you've previously received."

No joke...That's what I "heard" to do...

So...I did...

And there she was.

Down 2 weeks into my inbox.

I had saved the email.

I requested the file...and got it almost immediately.

I sent it to the specialist to review the file, and instead of taking the usual 24-48 hours to review,

she called back 2 hours later.

Now...to know the miracle of this, one must understand the specialist that reviewed the file...

She has reviewed MANY files for me, and she is very straight forward and will give an honest, worst case scenario. I like that, even though it was hard to hear, many times, from her.

She knew what we could and could not handle as a family, as I had discussed it with her in detail.

She called me 2 hours later with a wonderful...glorious...positive report.

All of the "scary" things that were listed, were simply things that she was suffering with when she was found...

She was very sick...

But she had been "repaired"...Nursed/Doctored back to health...

And now she was waiting for a family...

"So, she's fine?"  I asked...

"Yes."

Wow...So, all of this time...Hiding underneath this "scary" list of medical jargon was a little girl who didn't have anything "scary" about her at all...Wow...

Now...The ultimate test...Would Scotty feel that she was "the one".

I called him...

Told him what the specialist said, and sent him her picture...

The rest is history!

Now...

Here.we.are!

3 days from going to China

6 days from meeting the beautiful little girl in that photo

6 days from meeting our daughter...

And I stand in awe of what God has done to bring us together.

I am.....

I am BUSY!

Packing and making lists and unpacking and repacking (It's only just begun).

Thinking of everything that needs to be done before we leave, writing it down, and then attempting to do it all.

Stalking the Facebook groups with all of my adoption peeps who are waiting on their very important paperwork and approvals so that they can get their little ones. Cheering them on as they get said documents and consulate appointments, and crying as I see the pictures posted of those who are in China now getting their little ones while we are sleeping.

Finalizing travel plans...

Finishing Ann-Jolie's Christmas stocking (almost done :) )

Etc....Etc....

I am NERVOUS!

I have a million things running through my mind...

Will Maddox be too sad while we're gone? Will he understand that we are coming back and that we love him and didn't want to leave him?

Will Ali and Devin be ok holding down the fort while we're gone? It's a lot to ask of them...

Will Peighton be okay on the long flight there and how will she fair once in China?

How will Ann-Jolie feel the day we get her? Will she be sad, and if she is, how can I comfort her -- if she even lets me.  Will she be scared, and if she is, how can I reassure her?

I'm trying to remember that I have to meet Ann-Jolie right where she's at, and not expect anything from her.  I'm trying to remember not to take it personal if she doesn't "like" us right away. Yes, we are gaining a daughter, but we are doing this for her, expecting nothing in return...Giving her a family...A group of people that will call her their own; that will love her unconditionally no matter what...That will show her the love of God regardless of what she gives in return.

I'm trying not to over-think, but to be honest, it's very difficult not to.

I'm EXCITED!

The time has finally come to travel across the globe to get this little girl that we have been praying for and calling our daughter for all of these months.

I can't wait to see Ann-Jolie in the adorable clothes we're bringing for her and I can't wait to get bows in her hair :)

Peighton LOVES airplanes and is finally getting to ride on one! I can't wait for her to experience this trip of a lifetime.

I can't wait to see Ann-Jolie and Peighton interacting. I'm so glad we could bring Peighton!

I can't wait to see my adoption friends in China with their little ones, and visit with people that have been along this journey of adoption with me all these months.

I know this is not a vacation, but honestly, we are super excited to go and enjoy our time there.

I can't wait until we board the plane in Hong Kong to return home to our completed family (yes...THIS is it, lol! We are done ;) )

I am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!

9 days until we leave and 11 days till we meet our daughter...wow...

Surreal

Shanghai...Here we come!!!

Ann-Jolie!  Your Momma & BaBa are coming for you :) (and your Mei Mei, too)

IT'S OFFICIAL!!

Well, I received the official date (our Consulate Appointment date) that we needed to proceed with our travel plans!

So we are leaving for Ch*na on November 22nd!!!

We'll be meeting Ann-Jolie on November 25th!

That's 2 WEEKS from today!

(Notice all of the exclamation points ;) )

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Shanghai...Wonder what we'll eat for Thanksgiving dinner...

Probably Chinese ;)

My life will be a flurry of activity for the next week and a half.

I'm working on booking tickets and hotels right now....Yes...right now...

And, hopefully, they'll be all done by tomorrow night.

This is all happening so quickly!

This blog is going to be seeing a lot more activity now.

I'll keep you guys posted!

Countdown to Ann-Jolie begins NOW!!

LET'S ROLL!

DO YOU SEE THAT?!

THOSE LETTERS REPRESENT "TRAVEL APPROVAL"!

THAT MEANS THAT WE...ARE...GOING

TO CHINA!!!!!

WE ARE HOPING TO LEAVE ON NOVEMBER 22ND.

PRAY THAT WE GET THE CONSULATE APPOINTMENT OF DECEMBER 3RD!!! (everything revolves around that date)

IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN, WE'LL MEET OUR LITTLE GIRL ON NOVEMBER 25TH!

WOW!

I'M IN AWE!

PRAY FOR HER! PRAY THAT GOD PREPARES HER LITTLE HEART AND MIND FOR THE MAJOR CHANGES THAT ARE GETTING READY TO TAKE PLACE.

I AM BEYOND EXCITED!!! WE LEAVE IN 2 WEEKS!!!