Gotcha day started at 4:30am. Not that I could have slept any longer anyway. We had to repack our suitcases to the Chinese Domestic Flight weight limits. We headed down to breakfast at 6am and were out to the airport to catch our flight to Lanzhou, China. Lanzhou is the capital city of the Gansu province which is where Caleb's orphanage is. After we boarded the plane, we waited for an hour on the runway before we took off. As we drew closer to Lanzhou, our hearts began to pound because we knew that it wouldn't be long until Caleb was in our arms. However, once our plane landed and we met up with our Gansu guide, Steed, it was still an hour bus ride into downtown Lanzhou. On a side note, driving in China cities is quite harrowing!! Steed did an excellent job filling us in on the local culture and history, but it was very hard to concentrate on what he had to say. All I could think about is when we would see Caleb for the first time.
After arriving at our hotel, we checked in and had 10 minutes to drop our luggage and head out to the local department store to pick up last minute supplies like formula. This store is called Vangard which is the Chinese equivalent of Wal-Mart. Oh my! It is a three story store which is probably 1000x more stimulating that Wal-Mart. You have to see it to know what I'm talking about. After searching for about 30 minutes for needed supplies, we walked back to the hotel. We arrived at 2:45pm and were told that the babies would arrive at 3pm. Because there were three families receiving babies, they were looking for a large place for us all to meet our new babies. The only place available was the area outside of the elevators on the floor where our rooms are.
So, here we were, three families standing outside the elevators waiting for the ding and the opening doors. Dads with cameras in hand, moms holding back the tears. Then that sound of the elevator ding that caused our hearts to stop. Out walked the orphanage director and three nannies, each holding a precious bundle. They were all quiet, not certain what was about to happen. Then they called our names and placed our long awaited baby in our arms. What a moment! It is impossible to describe. There I am with tears in my eyes, holding my new baby boy!
The orphanage workers gave us all a rundown of the babies, their personalities and their schedules. Caleb had all the gifts that we had sent him previously and they gave those back to us to bring home with him. The also gave us the bottle that he typically used to eat. We could very easily tell that Caleb had been well taken care of and that all of the babies were well loved by their nannies. The director and nannies also presented us with a photo album that they had put together for each baby. We presented them with gifts of appreciation as well. It was such a precious moment.
Here is our first family photo:
We brought Caleb back to our room and had about 30 minutes to introduce ourselves before we had to head out and have our official family picture taken for completion of the official paperwork. When we got back to the hotel, we had about 15 minutes to come back to the room and make a bottle before having to meet with our guide to sign initial paperwork. Then we headed back to our room where our guide met with us individually to change over our money for the orphanage donations. By the time that was said and done, we were ready for bed. Mind you it was about 7pm. We were able to Skype with Mimi and Amy so that they could also meet the new family addition, but poor Sam was completely worn out and had already put himself in bed. After getting off of Skype, we were about ready to settle down for the night as well. Caleb fussed briefly, we laid him in the crib, turned the lights out and he was fast asleep. Believe it or not, he slept through the night, no problem and was awake bright and early at about 4:30am this morning.
Today we had our Civil Affairs appointment where all of the official adoption paperwork was completed. We triple checked all of the documents and wrote our final signatures. After signing the documents, we finished by placing a red thumb print on each of our signatures. Then Caleb had to put a red footprint on several documents. It's official! He's ours! Another special moment!
We exchanged email addresses with the nanny so that we can share pictures and updates after Caleb has his surgery. Then headed back to the hotel to rest and bond as a family. Steed is coming this evening to bring the finished paperwork. The rest of this week will be taken up with sightseeing and shopping. I think we may have some other official appointments throughout the week as well. Then we'll fly out of Lanzhou on Friday and head to Guangzhou, China to have all of our US Consulate appointments. Although I know we have a lot of important things to do, I have to admit that I would be ready to fly home tomorrow.
Things could not have gone more smoothly for us and I know that it is due to your prayers and support. Thank you so much! Please continue to pray for us as we complete our appointments and head home. I'll continue to send updates and pictures.....
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