Gotcha Day!!!!

Here is the first look of our precious second daughter! We were barely able to contain ourselves as the head nanny and assistant director were walking through the parking lot outside our window. 


The train they were taking from Mariah's orphanage was running very late. So they did not make it to the Civil Affairs office until 10:30am instead of 10:00am.  We have waited 18 months for this child and six months since first seeing her picture......we could wait a few more minutes!


We were the only family to receive our child today. So, it was just the four of us (us and my parents) in the building waiting. Then when they came in, Jeremy and I were overwhelmed with emotion. However, I knew if Mariah saw me crying it would likely scare her. So, I was brave and walked over to her nanny who was holding Mariah and just rubbed her back and told her in Chinese that I loved her. Then the nanny handed her to me! I cannot begin to explain how that felt. All the pain and emotion that went into this whole adoption melted away. She was in my arms!!!


After I had her for a while, I cautiously handed her over to Jeremy. 


Jeremy kept telling me that it didn't matter where Mariah was.....we would come get her again and again. I have noticed how he cannot keep his hands off of her!


                Without much further ado........Introducing our baby!

So......not quite the reaction you may expect. But as my sister wisely pointed out to me, this is very much how each of our home grown kiddos greeted us as well.....screaming and crying!

The picture below shows her calming a little. This came only because I offered her food and she must have been hungry. Notice the tears still in her eyes.

This next picture is our first as a semi-family. We are terribly missing our other four kids in Ohio. We have never been away from them for more than 2 nights. Ben, especially, is having a tough time.

This next picture shows the assistant director and head nanny with us.

We were presented with gifts that were specific to Mairah's city of Changzhou. The orphanage gave Jeremy and I a box of combs of the four Chinese princesses. (Not sure who they are, so I have some studying to do). Then they gave us a beautiful comb set for Mariah. Hers is of the famous Chinese opera in her city. We were overwhelmed.

So, back to the details of the day. We arrived at the civil affairs office 20 minutes early.  We were the first ones there so our guide went somewhere and got the keys. We were let in to a room that was empty of other families. We then found out that we were the only family with Gotcha that morning. There have been very few adoptions out of Jiangsu this month. We were only the fourth family!

Can you imagine the day this baby had? Her very first train ride on the high speed train, her first time out of the orphanage, then handed to a strange white couple. So, I did what any other momma would do at that point. I pulled out the snacks in her backpack and bribed her with food. Let's say she loves the Gerber Graduates Puffs.

As we were beginning our relationship with Mariah or PingPing as we are calling her for now, my mom noticed something I did not. The assistant director turned away and wiped tears from his eyes. How precious is that? They loved this child closely when we could only love her from a distance.

We gave a gift to the head nanny and assistant director. The nanny received a bracelet I had made. It had glass beads and one single lady bug charm. She also received a small gift bag of BeautiControl products.

Then we gave the assistant director his gift. It was made by a special man at our church, Neil. He made a wall plaque and carved out the shape of the entire United States and outlined each state. Then he cut out the state of WV and marked our town. Below that, Neil cut out the country of China with its provinces outlined. Then off to the side he cut out Jiangsu (Mariah's province) and marked her home city of Changzhou. The pieces were raised from the background wood but will not come completely out like a puzzle unless pressed from the front. I loved it!

Jeremy was asked to explain what it was and the guide interpreted for him. The director was so touched. He kept shaking Jeremy's hand. Our guide later told us how much that meant to the director. She said we did very well and that was VERY special to him. 

We had some private time with Mariah and went upstairs to a room to have her new family picture taken. That is for the adoption registrar's records. That was it. We signed guardianship papers to keep her for 24 hours and determine if she was a fit for our family and we left. 

She fell asleep in the car. They do not have car seats here in Ch*na, so she rode on my lap. We stopped at Carrefour (very similar to Walmart) for some groceries. 

We found out that Mariah only eats one meal of food each day....lunch. Breakfast and supper are rice cereal in a bottle of formula. So we had to go get what we needed.

That evening she really came to life. She began to play! She does walk but is not very steady. But she really enjoyed the freedom in our room and the hotel hallway.

She took a long nap and I woke her. We went to the local mall for supper and hurried back so that our kids could see their new sister on Skype for the first time. This twelve hour time difference makes it tough to communicate. They loved seeing her!

My sister Tammy has my kids while we are here. Three of them are getting sick. Micah and Ben seem really sick and Kyle is getting there too. They each have really bad colds. I sure hope it does not turn into something worse.  Ben keeps telling my sister and the other kids that he just wants to hug Mommy. My heart is torn. I know my sister will take good care of them. 

She also mentioned that my sweet sister Tina wants to come down from Cleveland and fix supper one night for them all. My brother and oldest sister have also been in contact with us. Did I mention that we have an awesome family?!!!!

Jeremy's parents stayed up Sunday night to meet their newest granddaughter via Skype. They were pretty awestruck!  We spoke with them for quite some time. Jeremy's brother also has kept close tabs on us while here. See, both sides of the family have been so great while we have been here. We are truly blessed.

I realize how blessed we are in America. This country has boundless beauty but it is certainly not America! 

Mariah has an absolutely beautiful birth country of which to be very proud. But, we are proud to be American.....all seven of us!