At Long Last Love Has Arrived

We had the most unbelievable day yesterday!

After we left the Civil Affairs Office we stopped at a grocery store and Shigu, our agency representative, went in and bought each of our families some supplies to get us started (formula, rice, water, snacks, etc.) and then we headed back to the hotel. There was a group lunch planned but I decided to bag that and spend some quality time loving up on Miss Lily. Daddy did join the group for lunch and brought Mommy and Lily back some yummy food!

We had a nice quiet afternoon and Lily took a 2 hour nap. The only excitement we had was Tony changing his first dirty diaper! It was only a wet one...but still...both he and Lily survived. Lily is quite a busy little bee and changing her diaper or her outfit is no small task. Honestly, Lily could give those performers in the Acrobatic Show the other night a run for their money!

We haven't been able to get Lily to drink any formula for us. Nope...she flat out refuses. She will, however, drink water from a bottle...and lots of it. Shigu even helped us to make the formula because Chinese babies are used to a much thicker formula than American babies. But still no luck. We've cut bigger holes in the nipples and all the other things Shigu suggested. We will meet with the Orphanage Director and nanny today and ask them for suggestions.

We had dinner together in the hotel restaurant. Lily ate a bunch of congee (a kind of rice gruel) and bananas. Note to Mommy and Daddy: Lily does not like watermelon! We tried to give Lily a little watermelon and you would swear we were trying to poison her! I wish we had had the camera ready to capture that face. Lily was quite the little chatter box in the restaurant and was flirting with an older gentleman at the table next to us.

After dinner Lily and I headed up to the room while Tony settled the check. We got on the elevator and then a group of about 50 business men piled in. I am only partially kidding....seriously...sardines have better living conditions! As I was trying to stop myself from having a full blown panic attack Lily was charming her adoring fans. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what the men were saying but it was obvious they were completely enamored with our sweet Lily. When Lily would pat my face I did recognize the men saying the word "MaMa" and it brought tears to my eyes.

Lily went to sleep at about 8:00 pm and she and Daddy are still sleeping as I type this. We've only had one serious crying spell but it was incredibly intense! Not long after Lily fell asleep we turned the lights off. I'm only guessing that she opened her eyes and was really frightened about where she was. She screamed and cried the most heartbreaking cry but settled down quickly after she saw Tony and I were right there. We left one of the room lights on for the rest of the night and though she did stir a few times she settled right back down.

This morning we head back to the Civil Affairs Office to meet with the office staff and the Orphanage Director again. Once you receive your child you have what I guess you can call a 24 hour right of rescission period if you decide you do not want to adopt the child that has been chosen for you. Needless to say...we will not be exercising that right!