Our first day with Ashlynn

Our first full day with Ashlynn has gone about as well as could be
expected.  She slept great her first night with us.  We're sure Gotcha Day
was exhausting for her.  She is trying to teach us about her likes and
dislikes.  Sometimes we get it right on the first try and other times we
need a few more cues from her.  It'll all come in due time but we know
it's frustrating for her.  We are trying to match her routine as her nannies
described it to us but it's just not the same and she knows it.

This morning we introduced Derek and Mason to their sister over Skype.
They seemed excited to see her with us, asked a few questions, and had
lots to tell us about their time with their grandparents.  We're sure it
won't be real to them until we're home.

Also in the morning, we returned to the government office to finalize the
adoption which included a lot of additional paper work, answering some
brief interview questions, and a family picture.  Along with our
signatures, we each had to give a thumb print and they took Ashlynn's foot
print.

The rest of the day was spent at our hotel.  We walked around the large
hotel quite a bit.  We found a small children's play room on 30th floor
(our room is on the 37th of 42 floors) where among the toys was a walker.
Ashlynn was happy to be in it and moving under her own power.  Several of
the photos we received from the orphanage over the last several months
showed her in a walker so we suspect it felt very familiar to her.  For
dinner, we ate at the hotel's restaurant again.  We were apparently taking
too long to decide what new Chinese foods to try because Ashlynn got very
hungry and unhappy.  Anything the kind staff brought us was not to her
liking.  Finally, Brandi left the restaurant with her and made a quick
trip back to the hotel room to get her a bottle of pedialyte to calm her
down.  After a few minutes, she was back to her happy self and we survived
the rest of the meal.  We're sure the people in the restaurant are still
talking about us!

We still haven't fully adjusted to the 13 hour time change so our sleeping
patterns are off.  It's 4:00 am and we've both been awake for awhile.
Ashlynn woke for a little bit but is now sleeping again next to us in bed.

Thanks to everyone back home who has sent us comments on the blog and
emails.  It's great to hear from you!  We are glad to share our journey
with you.