Daddy's Little Girl

So time for a verbal update on this amazing adoption journey.  I can't believe it's only been 24 hours since we got Lucy - it seems like a lot longer since sooooo much has happened in the last day. Everyone is down for a late afternoon nap now so I have a bit of a break to get this out.  But first, let me apologize if the blog looks all crazy - I can't actually see the blogsite at all since it is blocked here in China and I am emailing my post in blind.  So I have no idea what any of this looks like and I can't verify if anything is actually getting posted unless I hear from someone (like my dear sister today) that they got posted.  Additionally, hotmail does not display that any of my emails are 'sent' after I hit the send button.  Very frustrating.  So I probably blew up the blog with the same post of the same three pictures six times this morning - but darnit if i wasn't going to get some pictures out to everyone!

Lucy is the cutest thing in pigtails and is definitely daddy's little girl.  She will not allow anyone else to hold her - she goes nuts.  She screams bloody murder when Melissa even touches her let alone tries to hold her.  In the realm of adoptions, this is not altogether unexpected.  Tyson immediately took to Melissa and merely tolerated me and Melissa's mom for the entirety of the China trip and it took months before Tyson would let me hold him without squirming away.  So, for some reason we can't explain Lucy has latched on to me.  I can' t leave the room without her bursting into tears and she barely tolerated me taking a shower 4 feet from her this am.  Melissa is taking it well - we knew she would probably pick one of us, I just wasn't prepared for it to be me!  I mean I am bigger, taller, hairier and whiter than anyone she has ever seen AND I have an itchy beard.  But there it is. 

Quick summary of events: Arrived at the hotel in Nanchang yesterday midday.  Had just enough time to get our bags unpacked, eat something and get Lucy's stuff organized before being summoned downstairs to Conference Room 2 where we met our darling daughter to be - she had just peed herself and was having a bit of a meltdown.  We were able to take her back to our room in very short order and proceeded to try to get her to stop crying.  The only thing that worked (temporarily) was sitting in my lap with all of her earthly possessions (which turned out to be the stuffed animals and disposable cameras we sent her in a care package) hugged to her chest, sucking on her didi like it was going out of style.  LOTS of tears.  And making a break for the door.  Cheerios and Puffs scored big points and bubbles made a dent in the tears but only if I gave them to her.  The first several hours were very long.  Eventually she fell asleep on my chest and Melis had to go down to the Conf Room to do all the paperwork - that was supposed to be my job but the kid picked me.  Whodathunkit?

I won't get into the comedy of errors that occurred when I tried to slip out of bed to go to the bathroom.  Let's just say it involved lots of tears, three different types of bottles (none of which worked) and a hotpot that blew up scalding milk the temperature of liquid magma all over the counter, wall and mirror of our room.  A special prop needs to go out to my folks who braved the Nanchang summer heat and insane traffic (dodging cars like Frogger) just to get their granddaughter some milk.  Mom had to moo just to get someone to understand what she was looking for.  Way to go Nai Nai and Gpa!!!  They already know the layout downtown Nanchang from all their adventures seeking supplies.

Finally got the wee one asleep somewhere near 9 and we all immediately passed out from exhaustion.

Today was Adoption Day!  It was chaos and nothing like our very ordered oath ceremony for Tyson in Chongqing.  With him there were two adoptions that day and that was it.  Today there must have been thirty families from all over the world adopting kids plus guides and extra family members and the office workers that ran the government agency that controls the adoptions. It was simply nuts...and hot.  I haven't mentioned the heat yet but it is pretty warm here with a high humidity that just melts you; the buildings are semi air-conditioned in SOME places. Most of them are stuffy, hot and humid - stifling.  Don't even get me started with the elevators!  Could it get any hotter in here? And with that darling little girl clinging to me and only me...well, I lost 5 lbs today just sweating.   I'm not kidding, I just weighed myself.  Water has been scarce (until our WalMart run today) and I am "sucked out", as the wrestlers used to say.  That's about it for now - a very long 24 hours.  But she is officially ours and she is SOOOOOOO cute!!! Worth every bit of the hardships I just described and then some.  She is stubborn and opinionated and talks a lot (reminds me of Boo from Monsters Inc just a bit since we can't understand her but she babbles just like her).  The Lord has blessed us with an amazing little girl and we can't be thankful enough.

Well, nap time is almost over so I better post this thing or it may not get posted at all.  Keep up those prayers - they're best way for you folks at home to lend us a hand over here.

TJ