Gotcha Day - August 27, 2012

It all seems so surreal now. All that anticipation, all that anxiety.  A month after Gotcha Day and we are at home,  the kids are playing and things are coming together with new routines and new dynamics of the family.

The morning of Gotcha Day, we were in Hefei, Anhui Province in  China. We were meeting our guide fairly early to ride over to the Civil Affairs Office. The ride took about 20 minutes, if that long.  We were not traveling in a group as its customary.  The agency I used for this adoption apparently doesn't do that. ( more on that later) . My friend and H gathered our things and made sure we had cameras, lollipops, stuffed animal, etc.   I remember looking at my friend and I said" finally here"... and I got teary eyed, we hugged and I felt very calm.

Once we got to the non-descript building,  we all piled out  of the van and waited forever for this elevator.   I remember it being soooooooo hot and muggy.  There was a little girl with her nanny (Ayi) also waiting.   She was very cute and we all knew that she would get her Forever family that morning as well.  Later in the hotel we learned that this little girl's forever family was from Spain, and was adjusting very well.

Once we got to the floor we were suppose to be on, we were lead to a room where there was a large table and little room.  It seem kind of strange for me, as there was little room to move around.  This time around the kids and the nannies ( Ayis) were lead in one by one, and families it seem, where staggered. This would have worked fine, except the family that was getting their child right after us came in early, so the photo opportunities for our Gotcha Day were a bit missed.

Anyway.... I saw Little One come in with an whole group of people.  Typically, the Orphanage Director or their Nannies bring them.  They stopped at the door because this other family was in the way, and Little One saw me, and recognized me..... because immediately, she turned to her Foster father and mother and went the other way. The foster father came in with four bags of her things, a notebook and a letter to Little One.   This is VERY unusual,  as typically the kids come with the clothes on their back and that is it.    I was touched, as all the things we had sent her since September were in the bags, well worn and the stuff animals well loved.

As the foster mother ( as I later learned) was comforting The Little One,  I had the opportunity to talk to the foster father.  I learned that she had been with this foster family since she was three weeks old.  The family worked for the orphanage and lived there as well.   She had a baby brother ( also foster) and older brother ( foster family's biological son) and a sister - also foster.  Her paperwork said she had been with her foster family a year, so this placed a completly different spin on the situation.  The foster father said that they have been preparing her and that they loved her very much.  This was so apparent and I am forever grateful to them.

To make a long story short,  We had to force the foster family to leave, as the Little One would not come to me.   It took 2 hours and finally H pulled out her I-touch and showed her Angry Birds. That was the best, and when the little one looked up, they had said good-bye and the foster family had left.   It did take another 45 minutes for her to calm down and then be able to take the official pictures and get down to the van to go back to the van.  Who would have thought that Angry Birds was universal?

During this time we learned that Little One screams,  bites, kicks and scratches with a full force.  I understand, as my heart was aching for her.   I will write more but will post pictures now, as that is what everyone wants to see.  The last picture that is posted here is that night in the hotel room, getting ready to go to sleep.  More later.......