Gotcha Day

Eliana is currently sleeping soundly in her crib- she is a little miracle.
We arrived in Nanchang at about 2 pm and set off to our hotel and a meeting to get us prepared for the big moment at 5pm. We walked across the street to the provincial office that had been designated the gotcha spot. This alone was literally taking our lives into our hands, goodnight are there some crazy drivers in Nanchang! We arrived in the old building and found out that Eliana's group had not yet arrived, but the children from the other orphanage had. So, we filmed for other group members as they received their children. We had 6 couples who were first time parents and it was pretty cool to witness. Soon, we had word that the Xinyu babies had arrived. We were first to get Eliana and were scrambling to get our stuff together. She came in wearing a yellow "With Love From Norway" shirt and split shorts set. She was ok for about 2 seconds and then burst into tears which continued for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes or so. As we left the building, she was still going strong. Once we got back to our room, we gave her a bath- the heat is brutal and she has a hefty heat rash. Then we settled down to try to feed her as it was past her dinner time. We couldn't get her to take the bottle until we presented it hot enough. It actually made her sweat! The bottle calmed her down and she actually began to smile and giggle as we blew raspberries on her hands and tummy. She started babbling to us and also began to mimic as we made sounds, clapped, or shook our heads back and forth. Having been told her normal bedtime is 9pm, we tried to lay her down to sleep and she just lay there and closed her eyes! Unbelievable! We can't believe that she is ours and that it went so well- even with the first hour of crying. We are thankful to God for our little girl and can't wait for you all to meet her.

Gotcha Day