Monday, March 31, 2008 Gotcha Day! Or Sister Day

Today we busied ourselves with cleaning the room, packing a bag for Elizabeth and pacing around. We loaded on a bus at 9:30 am with all the other families and headed to the government office. It was a really quick drive and the babies were already there. We got in to a room way too small for all of the nine families, several caregivers, extended families and government workers. David said, “Look, there she is!” I said, "Are you sure?" Then they started calling us and before we knew it, they said, “Rachel,” and she was in my arms. It happened so fast! We were all crying, and she WAS NOT!!!!! She is so happy and content. She is also beautiful! All the other babies were crying, not ours. I hesitate to even say that, I don’t want to jinx anything. Here is the best part. She was sitting in my lap and put her head on my chest and get this, are you ready? She put her two fingers in her mouth! Just like Sam! We all started crying all over again. She is so perfect and beautiful. She is also so content and inquisitive. She is also the youngest baby in our group, which may have something to do with it. She is SO TINY!!!!! I knew she would be small, but she is way smaller than I expected or than her reports said. None of the clothes fit her, she is so small. At 3:30 pm we have to go sign paperwork, and then we will go shopping for clothes, shoes and diapers that fit her. When we got back to the room I took off her layers and saw how small she was and then gave her a quick bath. She still smells weird, I think it is the food she has been eating. Then we tried to dress her and discovered nothing fits.

For lunch we walked out and found a restaurant that had Mexican food. We thought we would try it. Big mistake! Sam ordered a cheese pizza, and she had a whole piece. I had tacos, that were weird, but she ate all the cheese off the top. Any thing I put in her mouth she ate. Tonight we will eat Chinese. Now she is snuggling with Daddy and watching Sam build with his Legos. She is fascinated with Daddy’s beard. She keeps touching it. She also said “Mama” really loud when we got back to the hotel and Grandpa was holding her. For now, she seems to go easily between all of us.

I’ll post more as we discover the wonderful baby we have. I am still not sure this is all real. On the bus back she had fallen asleep in my arms. I said to my mom, can you believe I have a baby in my arms? My baby?! The red thread and God brought us to our perfect baby. She sucks her two fingers and sticks her bottom lip out when she is concentrating. We are all so much in love. I can’t wait for you all to meet her. Now, I want to come home, but two more weeks here.