Gotcha Day

This is very funny they had a crib in our room and she put all her friends and new dolls into it and wanted to get in with them and laid down. Then she started climbing out. She sleeps in a bed which we knew but the hotel put a crib in anyway.

Cole and his Mei Mei!

Mommy and Tian Tian.

Daddy, Tian Tian and her foster Mom. We got a lot of photos with her foster family which was great.

Well what a day! We spent the morning touring Tianamen Square and Forbidden City with our Travel Group. Saturday we did the Great Wall more on that later. Today we then flew to Lexie's city Guiyang and as we are on the bus to the hotel at 6:45 p.m Sunday night our guide tells us we will be meeting her at 7:30 p.m. We weren't supposed to meet her until Monday morning! Well what a night! Lexie is unbelievable. I can't believe we are finally with her. No words can express the feelings we have experienced. As we are walking in to the hotel our travelmate Ellen says their they are. Wow the foster families, children, and orphanage directors were waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel. There was no time to prepare or do anything! Good thing I had the camera out and Kysle had the video ready to go. She was so beautiful!! More than I ever imagined she was.

Some really exciting but difficult news was that she has been in foster care for over 3 years. That was wonderful that she has been cared for so well, loved, and nurtured, but very hard for her as they were her family for most of her life. Also very difficult for them to leave her. She had a foster sister too. They gave us 2 photo albums they made, one of her as a baby and one more recent. They also had a bag full of some of her favorite toys/blanket etc. We sat with them for a long time talking about Tian Tian, as we are calling her right now, them encouraging her to sit with us and answering a lot of our questions about her routine. She was a little shy at first then warmed up. She loved Cole! He was playing with her and then Daddy joined into the fun. A little while after her foster family left we were doing some paperwork and she started walking to the door calling for them. Then she began sobbing. This lasted for a little while. It was so heartwrenching to see. Finally Daddy got her to calm down.

We went up to our room and Kysle discovered we had left my laptop on the plane! He had to go with the driver back to the airport, the good news was they had it! While he was gone I ordered Cole dinner and something for Tian Tian. My was she hungry she ate so much and was so happy!! She was so playful and having such a great time with us. I showed her some new PJ's and she was so excited to put them on. That was a surprise.S he was playing with Cole and having so much fun. Cole was so tired he went to bed and now it was just me and Tian Tian. We played then she got sad again. She was crying and I rocked her and finally she fell asleep. Of course I moved and she woke. She slept in my arms from 10:45 till 2:30 when I decided to try to put her in bed. She opened her eyes but was OK. Now of course I am wide awake so I thought I would share the exciting news!!

Here are some pictures....