Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Gotcha Day 11/9/04

 
Well today was our Gotcha Day. This was the first day that I laid eyes on Maddie. She was so beautiful and the only one in our group who didn't cry.
We took an early flight from Beijing to Chengdu. It was a good flight and on this one Angie and I got to sit together unlike the Guangzhou to Beijing flight. We went and checked into our hotel. It was beautiful. It was called the Dynasty and it had a big waterfall with a panda on it at the entrance way. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We all rested and prepared while Nelson went to go buy some formula and stuff for the orphanage. Then it was time. Angie and I were the first ones downstairs. It seems like it took forever to get to Chengdu CWI. I took a picture of the Mazda dealership for AJ. It was a very quiet ride to the CWI. I can only imagine that everyone was thinking about what was about to happen. When we arrived we were met by the director. She took us up to the conference room where we left our gifts and our donations and then we were presented with a photo album of the girls when they were little. It was priceless. We were all bawling and then in came the babies. I will post video of it by tomorrow. The website I am using is down for service right now. Yang Yu Wei was the second to be called. She was so beautiful. I was so in love!!!! I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was the oldest in the group by 2 months. She didn't cry. She would get that look on her face like she wanted to, but she never did. She was very calm. A nanny came over to give her a cracker and she ate away. After this we got to tour where the girls stayed. It was so sad to see all of the other little ones left behind. I think I held onto Maddie tighter at that moment than I did any other moment. After a very quick tour it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes and boarded the bus. We went back to the hotel room and rested again for a little while before a trip to the department store for diapers and other things. Maddie was wearing a button up pant suit (which is what you see in the pictures) a sweater, thermal pj top and split pants. Her poor shoes looked like they had been worn by about 5 different kids before her. She was such a good baby that night. She went to bed at about 7 and didn't wake up until the next morning. She had her first french fry and absolutly loved it. She still drank formula (for the time being more about that tomorrow) and really seemed to be close to on target for a 13 month old. She wasn't walking yet which I was glad for because I wanted her daddy to see her take her first steps. It was such an incredible experience. I am so glad that she entered our lives.
On a side note, we had been trying to get AJ listed as the father on Brandon's birth certificate. We had sent the paperwork to get AJ added back in Feb 2004 to the state of CA. Well Brandon's birth certificate officially changing his name and listing AJ has the father was dated 11/9/04, Maddie's Gotcha Day. Our 2 children were officially ours on the same day. Posted by Picasa

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