My Valentine

Joni is finally with us!  In fact she's asleep right here next to me.  I am in awe of how smoothly yesterday went.  After getting off the plane into Guangzhou we had only like 15min. to quick check-in and get all our stuff ready (gifts, money, documents, baby stuff , cameras, emotional fortitude) and head to the Civil Affairs Office where we knew our daughters were waiting for us.  We are here with another family who is also adopting a daughter from this province.  Our nerves and excitement were through the roof as we drove there and when we finally got upstairs we were ushered into this bright room with about 10 other couples who had already received their children.  Babies were crying everywhere and parents looked happy, some overwhelmed, but mostly happy.  The other AW family went first and I was caught up in the magic of their reunion when they brought out Joni (Yayan for now).  She was SO adorable bundled up in SIX  (yes six, and mind you it's 50 degrees here) layers of clothing.  She came right to me and didn't cry, though you could see she was very scared and wondering what was going on. I just held her and kissed her and starred at her and felt such a wave of gratitude.   Although there was chaos around me I felt like I was in my own little world with my new baby girl.  She was so brave!  I brought a few things to play with but she wasn't really interested.  When she was passed to me she was clutching these foil wrapped snacks and I got a half smile out of her when I pretended to take them away.  We had to fill out and sign some paperwork, it was all very easy.  Then we drove to a store to get some baby supplies.  When we got to the hotel she just sat and played on my bed but as the night wore on I think the gravity of the situation was setting in and she started to feel more insecure.  She is afraid of Scott and keeps her eye on him.  If he comes close her eyebrow furrows and the most pathetic expression comes to her face.  He is being so patient though and admires her from afar.  She is VERY cute, a real peanut.  There is a scale in our room so I will try to weight her later.  After unsuccessfully trying to get her to take a bottle or a late nap, I just played and cuddled with her on the bed until she fell asleep around 8pm.  I am so pleased that it seems like she receives comfort from her mommy and the few (as in two) times she started to cry I was able to calm her right down.  I eventually transferred her to her crib (not that I wanted to but I figured she might sleep better that way) and she woke up in the middle of the night.  I pulled her back out to snuggle with her though I bet she would have gone back to sleep on her own (she does this self comfort thing where she puts her hand in front of her mouth and makes a sucking noise, it's both sad and cute).  Basically, I am totally in love and can't wait to spend more time with her today, discovering her personality and who she is. 

Prayer requests:  That she takes a bottle and food from me today (she seemed excited to get one but after tasting it gave me a, "what the heck is this?" look), that she poops, that the weather warms up, that she starts to let Scott in and that he doesn't get discouraged.  Thank you, I just feel God blessing us each step of this journey so please keep the praying up!