More on Gotcha Day

The schedule for Gotcha was that we were to meet Bob, the guide, at 2:00 to go to the Civil Affairs office to meet Francie at 3:00. It turned out that we arrived a little early and Francie arrived a little late, so we had about 40 minutes to wait and watch two other happy families meet their precious daughters. Francie was coming from the orphanage which is about a 6-hour drive from Guangzhou, and they are doing construction on the road. She got car sick on the drive, but her three "Aunties" who brought her cleaned her up and got her ready to meet us.

Over the last few months Katie and I received far fewer updated pictures of Francie than we had while waiting for Lee. We were a little worried that we wouldn't recognize her when we first saw her. That was absolutely not the case. The minute we laid eyes on her we knew who she was and were only amazed that she was even more adorable than the old pictures.

One of her Aunties was holding Francie, and we just looked at each other and smiled. One Auntie asked Francie to give Katie and me each a kiss. The Auntie held her toward each of us and we each got a little kiss on the cheek. I then tried to hold Francie and the sweet moment all fell apart! Francie wouldn't stop crying and looked scared. I passed her to Katie and it didn't get any better. She cried while I did some paperwork, so I'm not exactly clear on the details. Her Aunties had gone in to the back room, and Francie was desperate to return to them! Francie just kept crying and later slid off the couch onto the tile floor, but again, I'm not sure how that happened. Katie's blaming Lee! Then came the lifesaver. Dan got a chance to hold her and all was well again. She melted into his arms and stayed with him the rest of the time there and all the way back to the hotel. (At one point I think I may have heard something about a Mustang and a trust fund.)

At the civil affairs office Lee was trying so hard in his new role as big brother. He had been excited all day and was just ready to start playing with her. He couldn't wait to hold her and kiss her! He was so cute, but it wasn't very helpful at the time. Francie just wanted to cling to Grandaddy! My mom took Lee to the other side of the room and played cars on the floor with him to keep him happy, while Katie and I finished the paperwork and met the Aunties.

When we got back to the hotel, Francie was able to relax far faster than I had expected. Katie got her a bottle and finally was able to hold her quietly. Francie was obviously hungry after a long trip and getting sick. It didn't take long for Lee to get back into big brother mode. He knew that he was the one who was going to teach her about the world, so why not get started? And what better topic than the Backyardigans! Lee went into the other room to get his DVDs and started quite a long lecture explaining and almost acting out each of the episodes on each disc.

After Lee's lecture, as we were all sitting in the hotel in awe, Katie, Lee, Francie and I were all getting tired. It had been an emotion-filled day, and we were all exausted even though it was only about 5:00. We also needed a little family time with just the four of us. It was great to have a few minutes to let the events of just the last few hours sink in a little.

We thought we would get room service for dinner, have the grandparents come back in, and then get to sleep early. That is when Francie started to loosen up even more. She was playing with a fan on the bed and laughed, smiled, and put on a show. Lee climbed on the bed and started playing, too. He was finally able to hug her, clap her feet together, and have a great time. Francie enjoyed the interaction and never got upset.

Although we had heard from the Aunties that Francie mainly ate congee and drank formula we thought we would see how she liked some spaghetti and a little rice. She wouldn't stop eating. She was perfectly happy to sit in my lap or Katie's and eat, eat, eat.

It was finally time to go to sleep (after posting a few pictures) at around 7:30. Lee fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. Katie and I tried to put Francie in a crib, but she didn't like that, so we put her in our bed with us. She relaxed right away and slept until about 10:00. The aunties told us that she normally eats just before bed around 7:00, falls asleep, and gets up again between 9:00 and 10:00 to have some more formula. We fed her again and she went right back to sleep. At around 11:30, Katie and I decided to try putting Francie back in the crib. She cried for about a minute and a half and then slept soundly for more than 7 hours. Overall, I am shocked at how well the night had gone. Everyone slept well, and I was the only one up early (after 7 hours of sleep) just too excited to sleep any more!

I know that we have many sleepless nights ahead, but it is nice to have the first night together be a restful one. We really are grateful and thrilled to have this little one in our lives, and we can't wait to introduce her to our friends and families! She's precious!!!