I slept about 4 hours last night partly due to nerves and due to jet lag. We had to be out of the hotel in Guangzhou by 5:30am to board our flight for Nanchang. We arrived in Nanchang and when we got to the hotel the babies were already here. I saw the orphanage director at the front door. When we came in they were hiding with the babies. But we caught glimpses of them near the lobby.
Grace, our guide sent us to our rooms to unpack and prepare for the babies that we would have about 45 mins. About 15 minutes later she called and said to meet her in the conference room on the 8th floor in 7 minutes! 7 MINUTES!!! I can't prepare for the moment I've been waiting for nearly 5 years in 7 minutes. We threw everything together and ran out the door to meet the Mia along with 2 other families.
So the moment arrives. We were the last of the 3 families to receive our baby. The other 2 girls were calm and smiley. Then here comes Mia. She took one look at us and started screaming. She cried on and off for a bit. We were able to speak to one of the caregivers and ask questions about Mia. Her nickname is NaNa. She is one smart, beautiful, spoiled baby girl. She came that way, we had nothing to do with it. You can tell she was the princess and she was very well cared for.
So far we've seem a couple of smiles and a giggle or two. She's quick to learn new things and she loves her Cheerios. She can eat like a champ and she will shake her head "No" when she's done. She says "goodbye" in Mandarin although we haven't heard it yet. She's got lots of teeth but she doesn't walk yet. She will walk if you hold her hands but she's not steady enough to do it alone.
To sum things up, she's AWESOME and we are in love. Poor Chris has been running around trying to satisfy her every whim but she wont even look at him. She screams at the sight of him. It's ok, we know she'll have him wrapped around his pinky in no time.
I'll leave you now with Gotcha Day pix. The video will follow soon. My left arm is killing me from carrying this bowling ball around. More pictures will come in the next few days.
As always, thank you for your love, support and especially the prayers.
After they put Mia in my arms, the orphanage director handed us a photo album that contains pictures of Mia since she arrived at the orphanage and while she was in foster care with her foster family. It is PRICELESS! He also gave us a copy of the note that was left on her when she was found. It only contains her birthdate but it's still a nice piece of history to hang on to.
