GOTCHA DAY (AKA: MOTHER'S DAY) - 2007

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Poly Plaza Lobby & Our Group Mother's Day/Gotcha Day

First Views of Nanchange...on our way from the airport to the hotel

The Lobby of the Jinfeng Hotel

Jinfeng Hotel

There is our DAUGHTER!!!!!

Isn't she just the cutest thing ever!! Other lucky babies!

So serious...watching and taking it all in...

Gotcha! We're Parents!!!! And Maddie looks so happy about it.

Who are these crazy people!!





Okay...her cheeks are just edible!!

Daddy's First Kiss
Veronica staying on top of it all as always

The room is hot/stuffy and loud...


Back at the hotel...

How do I even begin to write about this day. I've been a bundle of nerves all trip. Thank God for George's steady even-keeled way about him...and his patience with my being quite and at times tearful. Out of all holidays this one has been the only one that's been difficult for me since Mom died. I haven't had her to give the tulips to or swap recipes with or to tease. I miss her and would have liked to have shared this all with her so much.

Mother's Day is being emphasized this year for me with becoming a mother myself. No greater gift could have been given to me than having a child to teach those wonderful lessons Mom taught me throughout my life. Too many to list...but all so close to my heart. Maddie will know her Grandma through me.

So...off we go with our group from Beijing to Jiangxi's capital Nanchang. We're all nervously quite. What's to say? The flight there I hardly remember. Veronica is talking to us about how the day will unfold. I don't remember what she said. We got off the plane and went to our hotel. I don't remember the trip except for smog and clouds. I clearly remember nerves and excitement and more nerves. Here we go.

Fairly quickly after arriving at the hotel, we all met to go get our daughters. You've got to be kidding me....this is it? Today?? Now??? What do we take...what's my name?

We drive in our bus to a non-descript building and all walk in, up the elevator, to the right and through the doors...and there on the left is Maddie. We recognize her immediately as she sits there on a caretakers lap. We nervously sit down...waiting for the other group of babies from the Ruijin orphanage. We talk about how tiny she is, how stoic, how beautiful. She is playing with a card on her caretakers lap...watching the other babies play...all the while remaining serious. We had been told their drive from their orphanage had taken a couple of hours and the babies from the Ruijin orphanage had taken 7 hours. In come the Ruijin babies...let the ceremony begin. This is what we practiced for yesterday...one by one our babies names were announced. "Fu Xiao Miao"...oh my...up we go and out my arms go...and here's our baby girl bursting into tears!! She's holding on to her ID badge like its a million dollar lottery ticket...and looking at us like we're going to eat her. I could actually...those cheeks pretty edible. She has heat rash on her cheeks and feels like the Michelan Tire Baby. She's also clutching the teddy we sent her 2 months ago...he looks well held. We walk her, talk to her, try to soothe her. She's taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down. Other babies are crying all around us...but after seeing her all I remember was the 3 of us. I gave her to George and she calmed down fairly quickly. There is a picture of their first kiss above.

We had to do some "rental paperwork" to take her with us. I know that sounds odd...but that's what it was like. We had the night to try her on for size. Well...SHE FIT PERFECTLY! While doing paperwork we gave them the sundry gifts we had given them in red bags including a picture frame with her referral picture and a bottle of perfume for her foster family. We received a beautiful little vase made in her province in return.

We took our bundle back to the hotel and sat her on the bed with us to take a good look out her...how sweet, how scared, how fragile, how wonderful. She didn't cry...but would take these long deep breaths and put her arms up like a chicken and sigh. She did this quite a few times. We all made it through with the help of colored goldfish though. I sent Pepperidge Farms a thank you note :) She ate well from go...loved watermelon and whatever we had. She was still on a bottle which was a real shocker for me...so I learned quickly how to make her soy formula.

As we got ready for bed that night I thought I'd peel her out of at least some of her clothes. I took 2 layers off and then stopped when she fussed. I took off heavy overalls and a heavy shirt plus a pair of pants. One more pair of pants and another shirt to go. It was pretty hot out that time of year...but in China they believe the more clothes the more protected the child is from illness. Someone had Maddie's back in this department.

We had dinner in our hotel that night...she wailed on the watermelon and congee! That's all I remember except for other adoptive parents looking dazed, thrilled, tired.

Her crib was ready and I think all of us were ready for bed. We put her down for the first time and kissed her head and cheeks goodnight for the first time. We were a bit worried about the crib as the bars were so far apart. We were reassured this was the type of bed she was used to. I checked on her regularly that night - heck - I couldn't sleep. At about 2pm I woke up to check and there she was hanging from the crib. I knew she was a goner! I raced over and sure enough her legs and body were cold...and a million thoughts went through my head between being an awful mom and imprisonment...and then she snorted and looked up at me like I was nuts. Sigh of relief and I moved her bed between the wall and my bed...no room for her to do another Houdini. Good first night. We love you Maddie...