Gotcha Maya Day

The last couple of days has been a whirlwind of activity and no sleep that it's been near to impossible first to catch a good wifi signal and then time to actually go through the photos and do a post. We arrived in Beijing with hardly any sleep on the plane then caught a little snooze and was up again at 4:30 am to catch another flight to Nanchang. The flight was then delayed and we got in late so much so that the children were already waiting for us instead of the other way around. They'd waited for quite some time and were surely getting restless. At last we walked in and Charlie said, there she is. She was surrounded by the orphanage people and the agency people but I just walked up to her and hugged her. She may have been a little surprised but she recognized me and gave me a good hug back. Wow, the feeling of finally meeting her and getting my arms around her were incredible. There she was in the flesh, my daughter, the child I never knew was mine until recently. There is no other way to explain it but the it was meant to be all along. She was meant to be ours and looking at her happy face in these photos makes me believe she thought so too.  She gives us hugs, reaches out for us, feeds us candy, lol and seems to be on cloud nine as are we.  I'm bawling here just writing this. It is just amazing what God has done to bring us together; moved mountains literally.

Here is the journey from the very start.

Then off to another plane ride next morning.

Walking into the Civil Affairs office where Maya is waiting

Charlie let me be the first one to wrap my arms around her even though I can tell he wanted nothing less. These are scans from a video I will post later. Of course I cried but held back as much as I could so as not to startle her too much.

Charlie also got his turn with her but took it easy at first but she soon warmed up to her Baba. I love my husband soooooo much for accepting her as his child and signing on that dotted line for her adoption. Maya seemed pretty pleased too as she looks on with a friend from the orphanage who came to see her off.

We signed a ton of paperwork and signed in red ink over our names then we had our first Family Photo taken for a certificate. We also had photos taken with her orphanage director from Shangrao and another orphanage official who has some beautiful photos he has of Maya in the yellow dress we sent her in April.  The dress she is wearing here is one we sent her at a later date. She is also in photos with a six year old boy who also came with her to see her off and who also needs a loving mom and dad.

After almost three hours at the Civil Affairs office we were off with the rest of the families and their new little ones to Walmart for some necessities. Did I say I love my husband?? Love the two of them walking together.

Then finally we were on the way to the hotel where when we got to our room but only for a short time because there was another adoption meeting downstairs at 8 pm. Still this little girl insisted on a bath as if she were washing away her old life and starting new. After all I'm mommy number four and so here it shall remain and through no fault of her own. Let me just say she speaks quite  few words in English and is picking up more at a rapid speed.  She has a few thing of her own that she's brought like some school books and yes she is excellent in Math, her favorite subject.

We video communicated with her two sisters though could not get the brother but her sisters are thrilled and can't wait to meet her and vice versa, her big sister even had a letter prepared for her which we brought with us, in Chinese for her to read and she savored it. She is a good reader too and reads everything she sees. She also knows now that a good friend of hers, a little girl of same age who was adopted last year lives nearby us and she will see her again. Goes without saying it's a bonus and she's excited to meet up with an old friend. So, here she is fast asleep in a big comfy bed. She has rolled into this new life with ease so far and certainly into our hearts. Sleep tight little one, no more worries where you'll be next as your forever family is finally here.  Wo ai ni.