Drum Roll Please!!!

Dominic -- that is your cue! Today was the most amazing, magical, unforgetable day! Xin Yi is heaven on earth! I am the luckiest mommy to have three such amazing children! I met the Stinnette family and our guide, Nancy, in the lobby just before 10 AM. We took some pictures and then headed out to meet our children. As we arrived, I noticed Xin Yi and the assistant director walking towards the building. I tried to take a picture out the back of the bus, but I wasn't quick enough and only got the top of Xin Yi's head. So, I met her as soon as I walked off the bus. She was carrying the bear that Peg Rielley brought for me a little more than a week ago. She looked at me and said mama. I pointed to the picture on the bear and then to me and was overcome with emotion and the tears started flowing! She wasn't sure about me yet, so I followed her and the assistant director into the office. I got down on the floor and showed her the backpack. We opened it up and pulled out the photo album, dolls, toy phone, stickers, cars, and magnadoodle. Then she found the snacks! She ate and ate and ate! I pointed to her doll's mouth and she started feeding snacks to her doll. Then she started feeding snacks to me and then to anyone else in the room that would let her feed them. She loves to share just like her two brothers!

Then the Stinnette's little boy, Samuel, arrived. He was very apprehensive at first, so Alana walked over with her stickers and put one on his forehead!! It was so cute. I helped take pictures of them with their sweet son while Alana kept eating! We finished the paperwork and the assistant director presented me with a beautiful plaque of the orphanage and sites in Jiangyin. I started bawling like a baby at that point. It was such an emotional moment. They really love the children at her orphanage and it was so moving for them to give such a special gift to her family. I kept playing with Alana and after a while felt comfortable pulling her up in my lap. She did so great and we kept feeding each other snacks and I was giving her lots of hugs which she was fine with. I took a picture with the assistant director before he left and then we went upstairs to take a family picture. Alana did great! Samuel had a more difficult adjustment, but he calmed down and is doing well also. We then headed back to the hotel for lunch and naps. Since Alana has been snacking so much and I'm not really hungry, I decided to just hang out in the room. I uploaded the pictures to the computer and called Victor to update him. Alana was into everything while I was trying to get the photos online for Victor to see. She loved the Hello Kitty toothbrush and wanted to start brushing her teeth immediately. Then she went after the bubbles and kept opening the container. She ended up pouring most of it out on the bed. Then she opened the entire container of bubbles and spilled that all over as well. So, she is out of bubbles already.

After we talked to Victor, I put on the "Dance and Learn Chinese with Mei Mei" video. I held her on my lap and we rocked and sang to the music. She kept on eating then had to go the the bathroom. She is talking up a storm and of course I understand nothing. However, we've been able to communicate fine by using hand gestures, so we are getting along OK. I wish I had learned more mandarin phrases, but I wasn't sure if she could speak mandarin or only the local dialect. It turns out she is fluent in both. After she had gone to the bathroom, eaten more snacks and had some water to drink, I decided to try to get her to take a nap. I looked up the word for sleep in my dictionary and she got into bed. I closed the curtains and turned down the music on the video and layed down with her. She had a couple of toys with her and kept playing with them. I let her play for a while, but eventually had to take them away to get her to go to sleep. She went to sleep pretty quickly after that and is napping as I write this. She is an amazing little girl and has handled everything very well so far.

When she gets up I'm going to have her give her a bath and get her in clean clothes. She hadn't been on a long car trip before and apparantly got a little car sick this morning. They weren't sure if I would still want to go the orphanage on Friday, but I think it is important for her and I to go. I'll just make sure she eats a light breakfast and we will bring plenty of wipes and changes of clothes. Who knows if she will get car sick again, it could have been a combination of things this morning -- especially anxiety and confusion! Then we'll be off to go shoe shopping. I brought lots of clothes, but no shoes and she has these bright red loafers that won't match anything I brought. Then we'll see about getting some dinner. I've been having a difficult time with the food so far. The CHI guide book has a phrase for "I'm a vegetarian", but they don't seem to know what that means. At the lunch CHI provided on Saturday, they had two "vegetarian" dishes that were really just side dishes (one of broccoli and one of green beans). So, I had white rice, broccoli and green beans for lunch (then ate a granola bar later because I was still hungry). Last night we ate at the chinese retaurant in the hotel. I showed them the chinese phrase in my book and the waitress helped me order something. Out came my boiled, shredded bean curd with shrimp and my plate of steamed spinach. She was confused when I again tried to explain that I'm vegetarian. She brought out another bowl of the soupy tofu (without shrimp this time), but it wasn't really very good and I think the broth may have been chicken stock. So, I ate a few bites of spinach and some peanuts that were on the table -- then back to my room for more granola bars. I did some searching on the China adoption websites and apparantly I need to have my guide write me a note that requests Buddhist meals. I guess that is the only way to explain to them that I don't want any meat in my food. I'll let you know how that goes tonight. I still very much want to experience chinese food and don't want to be resigned to eating cheese pizza at Pizza Hut everyday. Hopefully the buddhist note will work.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. More to come!!