Gotcha Day!

Gotcha day finally arrived!! What a day!  What a day!  It began with a very long wait for the babies to arrive. They were all coming from different orphanages and arrived one at a time. Our baby was the last to come because she was stuck in a traffic jam.  Here I am anxiously waiting for her!

Then suddenly our guide got a call from the orphanage director who said she was on her way, but she was VERY hungry and to make sure that we prepared food for her immediately.  I was just finishing up making some rice cereal when all of the sudden she arrived in a fit of screaming with a bunch of people following her.  It was extremely chaotic, and I don't remember much of it, except that someone put her in my arms, and then I was getting my first real look at my new daughter.
I fed her some rice cereal, and she began to calm down.

Then, despite her fear and anxiety overall of this, curiosity got the best of her, and she began to look around and get interested in everything.  She did not say anything or smile, but she was very curious.

She was very interested in Anya right away.

After she was settled in, we went to the adoption registration office where she had to get her picture taken, and I had to be interviewed, promising never to abandon her and to provide her a good education. At this point, she officially became our daughter!

Everything then had to be notarized to become official.  Here we are signing the documents.

We celebrated with a trip to Walmart. Yes, you read that right.  Walmart.  I absolutely hate Walmart in the states and avoid going there at all costs.  Walmart in Nanchang, however, is 1000 times more overstimulating and awful than in the states.  Picture Walmart on the morning of Black Friday. Now add decorations for Chinese New Year everywhere.  Then throw in a bunch of screaming babies and signs only in Chinese.  Overwhelming does not come close to describing the experience.

After that four hour excursion with no food or diaper changes all of the babies were exhausted and just wanted to come home.  Avery fell asleep instantly still in her snow suit.

When she woke up, she was starving and slurped up three bowls of noodles.  The girl can eat!  We gave her a bath.  She was pretty clean, but she does have scabies, so we gave her a treatment for that. We are hoping no one else gets it, too.  I love this little child so much already.