Gotcha, Ashlynn!

 

Today was Gotcha Day!  Our rep, Vicki, met us in the hotel lobby at 2:30
pm.  We were driven to the Hunan Adoption Administration and Service
Center about 15 minutes away.  We were brought into a large room with
wooden benches that lined the outer walls.  There was one other family
from Kansas already in the room also waiting to meet their daughter from
the same orphanage.  We had just sat down when we were told "they are
here". First, the other family's daughter was brought into the room. We
enjoyed watching them greet her.  Before we knew it, a woman walked in
with Ashlynn.  We recognized her immediately.  They quickly checked our
passports and then handed her to Brandi.  She fussed a little but was
content most of the time. She quickly became interested in the small toys
we brought her.  As a typical one-year-old, she kept trying to put her
fingers in our months as we talked to her.  Soon after Troy was holding
her, her eyes lids got heavy and she fell asleep.  Vicki help us ask the
nannies several questions about Ashlynn's daily routine.  They told us
they were surprised Ashlynn hadn't cried more as she tends to be shy.  In
less than an hour, we had signed the paper work and were headed back to
the hotel.  We stopped at a small store to pick up the brand of formula
Ashlynn had been given in the orphanage.

Once we were back at the hotel, Ashlynn continued to be very content.  We
played with her in our room and then went down to the restaurant to find
some dinner.  It was quick to tell what Ashlynn liked to eat and what she
didn't.  She liked the rice and watermelon but made quite a face when we
tried to feed her congee (rice porridge).  We were told she liked this at
the orphanage but not tonight.  We were also told she only has one bottle
a day, right before bed.  However, when we got back to the room and
changed her into her pajamas, she was just too tired to even finish her
bottle.  She's now sound asleep.

It's hard to describe how we are feeling.  The whole day was surreal.
Ashlynn is beautiful.  She has big, bright eyes and likes to smile.  It
was obvious from the way the nannies talked about her that she was well
care for at the orphanage.  We are just starting to get to know our
daughter's personality.  We look forward to introducing her to her
brothers and all of her new forever family soon.