Finally we have our precious little angel in our arms… and she is all that and even more than we ever imagined. We’ve always thought that we would be able to explain this moment in words… but there are not enough words to describe the joy that we experienced today. So should we even attempt? We’ll try.
The flight to Wuhan was pretty much uneventful. Everyone was just overly anxious to get here. We have met some wonderful people on this journey of ours and they have all become instant friends. We had a couple of hours to get ourselves situated and prepare the orphanage gifts. Brian and a few of the guys were sent to a store by demand of the wives to pick up a few extra things that we may need. He came back with juice and water, but at least they know where they are going in a need of calling. They will be there frequently.
We met in a conference room at 3:00. We had a brief orientation, and then they called the families one by one. Missy and Clark, from MS, were called first. They are adopting a 2 ˝ year old. It was a tough handover. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place after that. When it was our turn, they handed AnLi to us, and she just had a quiet whimper the whole time. But from that moment she became the dearest things that have ever touched our souls. Should I say it again… she is so precious and made a big man like Brian just melt.
After everyone had received their little girls, we returned to the room. Things went well for a little while, just the whimpering, and then we had two hours of on and off crying and screaming for “mama”. She would quiet down, and then look up and see Kayla, and start screaming again. We went for a walk and came back and she started playing on the bed, and even crawled a little. She ate a little and finally conked out at 6:50 p.m. So now before she wakes up again, we’d better figure out how to make the bottles right!
I will say she’s just like we imagined, although we wouldn’t have picked her out of the ten babies lined up. She is covered in mosquito bites and we’re not sure if she has an ear infection or if it’s just the clumps of dirt that were in her ears, but she was pulling at them quite a bit. Each day we know things will get a little better, but we were preparing ourselves for the heartache she must be feeling leaving her foster family who has loved her and cared for her the past 11 months.
We can’t wait for everyone to meet her! Thanks to everyone for following our journey. It has been one emotional roller coaster so far!
