What you've been waiting for...

We're a family of 3! Sorry for my delay in posting--you'll understand why as you read this post.

We flew from Beijing to Nanchang on Sunday the 15th and arrived at our hotel--The Galactic Peace Hotel (seriously)--at 4:00pm. Chandler advised us to go up to our rooms and prepare and that he'd call us at around 5:00pm to go meet the babies and caregivers in a conference room. Dan and I got to our incredibly enormous room (it's...galactic sized) at a little after 4:00 and were greeted by a crib in the hallway(with Hello Kitty bedding, no less) waiting to be moved into our room. I have to say, the whole experience was just plain odd. Exciting as all get-out, but odd. I mean, hanging out in a posh hotel room waiting to meet the rest of your life? Odd.

The babies arrived early, and Chandler called us at about 4:40 to say we needed to be downstairs in "3 minutes." Dan and I grabbed up our fully-stocked diaper bag, gave each other a huge 'holy crap!' hug and headed to the room--stopping along the way for a "last self portrait as two" shot by the elevators, of course. What was walking up to that room like? No words.

Walking into that room and seeing her there on the lap of a caregiver all serious in her lime green puffy suit...amazing. Our daughter. I knelt down by the caregiver and talked to her a bit as Dan took some photos. She studied me quite intently. (Her pensive little furrowed brow is even more adorable in person.) After a few minutes, the caregiver passed her to me and 'An An' (her nickname, we learned) was not pleased with that move. Not at all. And I don't blame her one bit. So many people think that the moment of being united is "magic" for the kids, as though they think, "Finally, the Mama and Baba I've been longing for!"--they don't. It's traumatic and scary--I imagine it feels like it would feel to be kidnapped by people who don't look like, smell like, or sound like anything you've ever known.

My attempts to calm her down were less than effective, but she did show interest in Dan. He took her and walked with her while I met with the caregiver and our guide/translator Chandler to learn more about the little peanut. (And she is a little peanut--very petite. Her little chicken legs make Dan laugh.) The caregiver gave me an important part of An An's early life for which I am soooooo grateful. She also gave me the cameras--both full--that I sent in a care package over a month ago. I am not sure what pictures are on there or whether they were all taken on the same day, but I am glad to have something for An An about her early life. The orphanage also provided us with answers to the typed list of questions we mailed to them in that package, but I haven't yet had the chance to meet with Chandler for translation.

Ultimately, given the small amount of time we had with the caregivers and the added complication of being distracted by An An's distress, we left the room with relatively little concrete information on caring for her. Add to that a very upset little being, and our first night together was relatively sleepless. (Hence my delay in posting.) An An likes to be carried around all the time, so putting her in the crib or sleeping in the bed between us was not an option. Every time she fell asleep while being carried, we'd try to move her to the bed, but every time she screamed until she was back in Dan's arms walking around. There were several times throughout the night that she and Dan would sit together in the chair and play with stacking cups or her rattles--it was so cute when she leaned in to rub his nose with hers--but those little moments were always interrupted by the tears that I imagine came from realizing that she was away from the home and people she has known since shortly after her birth. Long story short, aside from her 30 minute catnap at around 10:00pm, Dan walked her around from 5:30pm until she finally was so soundly asleep that he could ease into the chair by the bed...at 3:30am. They slept there together--An An on his chest--until she woke up at 6:30am.

We managed to get her ready to go in the morning and Dan headed with her to scarf down some congee (watery rice--an orphange staple and common comfort food in China) while I went with Chandler and the others to complete paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Today had a very busy schedule that knocked out all of our official provincial requirements in one swoop. We completed the adoption registration at the provincial office (we are now officially registered as her parents), the notary requirement, and went to the police station for filing the passport applications for the kiddos. An An--exhausted little peanut--fell asleep in the Ergo carrier (godsend, seriously) at 2:30pm and was asleep at the time she needed her passport photo taken. (You can imagine what the photo looks like, right? It's funny that they allow screaming photos for passports...) Luckily, she went right back to sleep.

And then we went to Wal-Mart. I can now say that I have shopped at Wal-Mart. But let me tell you, this Wal-Mart was CRAZY in a good way. There were 3 floors of madness with blaring (and I do mean blaring) music, people everywhere, and of course, labels as far as the eye could see that we couldn't read. (And we needed to buy diapers and food for the baby-ha!) I managed to get a group of no less than 5 Wal-Mart employees telling me which diapers I should buy and sizing up An An (who is sleeping right through this madness in her amazing Ergo) and arguing with each other--in Chinese--about what size she should be in. I think she is lighter and smaller than her paperwork originally noted, so we go with the size 2 model--a decision of which the majority of my Wal-Mart employee support contingent concurs with. Truly, a fascinating experience. As much as I can't stand Wal-Mart, this was a heck of a fun time.

We made it back to the hotel at around 6:30 tonight. It was a loooong day, but the good news is that all official acts are done until we get to the U.S. Consulate part in Guangzhou. That means the next 5 days are relatively free for us to do whatever works best for An An. (We're continuing to use her nickname, as given the intensity of this for her, it seems wrong to start calling her by her new name right now--and frankly, 'An An' just suits her. Who knows, maybe we'll still be calling Kennedy 'An An' when she's 37... ) She is such an adorable little peanut and we're looking forward to gaining more and more of her trust day by day. This is such a process, meeting needs and gaining trust. It's exhausting--sometimes frustrating--but overwhelmingly beautiful...like tonight, when she snuggled into my neck for 15 minutes and drooled all over my shoulder. That never would have happened yesterday. I can't wait to see what tomorrow and the next day and the day after that bring. We are just bursting with love for her.

Right now she's in her Ergo with the hood up (her safe space) sleeping on Dan's chest...but they're in the bed! (She doesn't know this, as he eased into bed after she fell soundly asleep, but the point is that yesterday she never slept so soundly that he could ease into the bed.) Now, she did take a 4 hour nap today after having slept so little last night, so I'm half expecting her to be wide awake at midnight...but if nothing else, this will just get her closer to Wisconsin time. :)

Oh, and another tidbit about her--she LOVES to eat, even when she's crying she can pound the congee and noodles. We've given her all sorts of goodies, and Gerber Puffs are her favorite snack food so far. She loves to be fed by us and reciprocates by feeding us Gerber Puffs (it's so stinkin' cute) and plastic stacking cups that we pretend to gobble up.

For tomorrow, Chandler arranged a day trip to a pavillion of significance to this province. An An seems to enjoy being out and about in her Ergo (puts her fast to sleep), so I think we'll likely go along. (Chandler is a great guide and does such a good job of keeping track of all the details--and believe me, are there the details!) So, for now, what you've all been waiting so patiently for: