An amazing day

Sorry that I didn't post anything last night, but after Rachel went to sleep we were so tired that we joined her in dreamland. Yesterday was just simply a wonderful, unbelievable day. Rachel is such a sweet little angel girl, we just couldn't have asked for a better baby.

Yesterday morning we all went into a conference room of the hotel to complete some paperwork. They gave us a package which contained a picture of Rachel's finding ad, the ad that appears in the newspaper after a baby has been found. She is just a newborn in the picture, so it is a precious thing to have. We also saw a photocopy of the note that was left with her, which was just her birthdate, June 19, 2005. Also in the paperwork was a red footprint of hers, which made me tear up just to see it.

Afterwards a bunch of us went to the local Wal-Mart, where we bought strollers. We also bought a few children's music cd's, and some teething biscuits. For lunch we ate at KFC. Jamie then went into one of the many, many cell phone stores trying to get a SIM card for his phone, but couldn't find anyone who could speak English.

We then went back to the hotel, where we waited impatiently until 2:30. Then our group gathered in the lobby for a group picture. Our two guides and a sister of one of the dads in our group were kept busy taking pictures with everyone's cameras.

Then we all loaded into the buses (we're such a large group that we need two), and headed to the civil affairs office. Our local guide, Glen, talked to us on the way, giving us tips on how to care for the babies and how they might react to us at first. It was just a short trip, then we were all climbing out of the bus and going up the stairs into the building where we would meet our babies for the first time.

We went onto the fourth floor and gathered in a room which had walls decorated in brightly colored children's themes, and had a little slide and balls. The kids in our group, all about to become big sisters and brothers for the first time, had fun playing while we waited. Then we were all herded into a larger, more official looking room where we all stood nervously, some wiping tears from their eyes. We asked one of the other couples, who hadn't brought a video camera, to film us while we received Rachel and we would film them meeting their baby.

A young woman came into the room and gave a short speech. She was a government worker for the civil affairs office. She welcomed us to China, and told us that it was a very long country with an illustrious history, and that now we are all a part of China's family, to which we all applauded. She introduced the orphanage directors and congratulated us on our new babies.

Then our guide announced that the babies from the Beihai orphanage (Rachel is from Guiping) were about to be brought in. One by one they were brought into the room, and their parent's names were called out. I started crying as I saw the new families coming together. I'm crying right now just typing it! Many of the little ones started crying as they were handed from the nannies to their new mothers.

Immediately after the babies from the Guiping SWI began coming in. We waited anxiously to hear our name being called, and it seemed as though just about everyone else was called before we finally heard "Jin Xia Li", and "James and Angela Palmer." We went forward and took her from her nanny's arms, saying a hasty "xie xie" to the nanny. Rachel didn't cry at all, just looked at us curiously. I held her close to my face and she leaned her head against my cheek. She cuddled like that for quite a while as I walked around with her, singing quietly. After a while Jamie asked to hold her, which honestly hadn't even occurred to me as I was so wrapped up just in cuddling her myself. She never cried once during our meeting, just looked at us curiously and seriously. She touched our faces with her little hands and felt our big noses. She took hold of Jamie's finger and shook his hand up and down.

She was wearing a really cute, warm Chinese jacket and pants. We were a bit surprised to see how little hair she has, really not much more than in her referral pictures. No bows and barrettes for a while! She has six teeth, four on top and two on bottom. She has a few what look to be mosquito bites on her head.

It was so much fun to walk around and look at all the other families. Jamie did a great job videotaping, and you back home will have fun watching it, I'm sure. He went over to the couple from Newfoundland, and told their little baby that she would have to get used to going on boats like her parents. To that she stuck out her little tongue and blew a raspberry, so funny!

Soon we were loading back onto the bus and heading back to the hotel. It was quite quiet on our bus, not much crying at all. Rachel looked out the window, taking everything in, and had fun playing with the little ladybug toy that her Auntie Laura got for her. Then she cuddled up against me, put her little thumb in her mouth, and promptly went to sleep.

When we arrived at the hotel we had to have family pictures taken. Rachel was still sleeping so I sat with her on the floor and let all the other families have their pictures done first. When it was our turn we had to wake her up, poor thing. She didn't cry, though, and went back to looking us over and taking it all in as we took her into our room. We took off her little outer suit, which was very cute and looked to be brand new. Underneath she had on a long-sleeved t-shirt and Teletubbies pants, which also looked like they had never been worn before. Even her socks seemed to be brand new. She was clean and her little fingernails were nicely cut.

We gave her a teething biscuit which she really enjoyed, while we got a bottle ready for her. She did cry just a bit a few times when we tried sitting her down. She just wanted to be held, and went back and forth between us without any problems. When the bottle was ready I gave it to her, and she thirstily drank about three quarters of it before she decided that she had enough. She did cry a bit at the end of the bottle. I think maybe because it was just all different than the way she is used to taking her bottles, I'm not sure.

By 6:00 we were hungry and decided to go down to the hotel buffet for supper. Rachel's clothes had gotten some formula on them so I changed her. She didn't like being laid down and having her clothes changed, and cried the hardest when I took her diaper off. I stood her up while I was putting her outfit on and she liked that much better. Her little legs are strong and I'm sure she can stand holding onto things, though we haven't really tried her since she doesn't want us to put her down yet.

We went down to the buffet and she seemed very content there, banging her teething biscuit on the table and looking all around. We tried sitting her in a high chair but after a minute she decided that Mommy and Daddy's laps were better, just as I suspected that she would. We got her some congee and she enjoyed eating that, though she enjoyed playing with the spoon even more. She was a perfect little lady all through the meal, but by the end she was yawning hugely. We went back up to our room and tried laying her down awake in the crib. She started to fuss and looked anxiously at us. We layed on the beds beside her (we have twin beds here and put her crib between us), and held her hand and sang to her. She wasn't going to go for it though, and started working up to a full cry and reaching out for me. So of course I picked her up and cuddled her, and she was immediately content again. I started to watch the video we made of receiving her, and she watched too. Then she put her thumb in her mouth and went to sleep again. (I am THRILLED that she sucks her thumb, I think it's so great that she has this way to comfort herself. None of my other three ever were interested in sucking their thumbs or taking a pacifier.) After she was soundly asleep I laid her in her crib and covered her up. She rolled to the side and slept all night through. It's now 5:38 AM and she is still sleeping. A couple of times she whimpered a bit, but never really woke up. She put her thumb back in her mouth and was sound asleep again. We just boiled some water for her first bottle, since the information we gave us says that she has her first feeding at 6:00.

Today will be a busy day of making things official. Right now is supposed to be the waiting period where we decide if we want to keep her or not. Hmm, what a tough decision :-) I'm looking forward to spending more time with the other families today and seeing how they are making out. Right now I'm also looking forward to our little sweetie waking up so we can play with her some more! I think in the next couple of days we will start to get some smiles and laughs from her, and really see her little personality come out.

I still can't believe how well things went yesterday. I was prepared for a screaming baby who arched away from us and wouldn't look at us, but she was just the opposite. It was absolutely a best-case scenario, and we are so grateful. We are sure that all the prayers said for us were a big part of that.

We are so happy with our new little daughter and can't wait to take her home and introduce her to the rest of the family. Harrison, Quentin and Julia, you are going to love meeting your new little sister. I know, like you said, that you love her already. We miss you guys very much and can't wait to get home and hug and squeeze you! We haven't done a lot of shopping yet so we haven't got much from our list, but we did get the most important thing on your list, which was Rachel, of course!

We are so amazed that God has given us four such wonderful, beautiful children. We don't know why He has chosen to bless us so richly, but we are so, so thankful.