Gotcha Day!

What a day! Little Miss Xiao Mei showed up with her orphanage director at 11:30am! I can't imagine how overwhelmed she must have felt for us, the nannies, the guide, and all onlookers in the hotel to be giving her so much attention. She warmed up after a few minutes and the next half hour was spent signing papers and taking pictures. Her nanny sat down with me and gave me so much information about her schedule and told me how much they all love her. She was the favorite in the orphanage because she is "beautiful and sweet". It was obvious to us that the nanny was sad to be leaving her but happy she has a home. The orphanage also gave me a scrapbook of pictures and her hand/footprints. This is very rare to have such a gift! She walked to the room hand in hand with her new daddy. I couldn't get a picture because I was loaded down with all of the stuff!!

This is what we knew about Ella Joy when the day started (according to her nanny)...

she loves music (they were playing Taylor Swift for her on an ipod), she runs FAST, she will eat anything they give her, she likes warm water, she is tidy, she likes to play games and help others.

After a little time in our room I could tell she was sleepy so I cradled her and held her sippy and she went right to sleep sucking her thumb. When she woke up she had a smile on her face. The only time she cried today is if I tried to remove any of her clothing she was wearing when we got her. She went to sleep with her shoes and I removed them during nap. We removed the 3 layers she had on from the orphanage and gave her a bath. She never sat down but at least she stopped crying! I dressed her but now she wouldn't let us put shoes back ON her feet. Also, notice the bow? She was wearing that this morning and we absolutely can not remove it or she cries! I even tried to sneak it out and put a small white bow in its place. After about 10 minutes she reached on top of her head and discovered the difference. We may be wearing a turquoise bow for a long time regardless to the outfit! Hey at least she likes bows!

She was very solemn so we decided to try our luck outside of the room. Sometimes kids will panic and cry when parents try to take them out of the hotel room but she did fine. There is a small play area for kids in this awesome hotel we're in. It didn't take long before the real Ella started to emerge! She is going to be a pistol! She went from quite and solemn to laughing and teasing and rolling all over us in a matter of minutes! It usually takes a few days before personalities start to shine-oh my, what are we in for? It took her about 5 hours! I should have known better when she was sticking her tongue out during the above group picture! She is the perfect addition to the Newberry clan and the boys are going to have so much fun with her! We are crazy in love with this precious little one already. She is amazing. I am so thankful that God chose her to be ours-we are the lucky ones.