We Have Lily !!

So…..where to begin? The day started off with all 3 boys sleeping until 6:30am! They all 3 got up at least once during the night, but went back to sleep. Even after getting up with them, Ruben and I were still able to get 8 hours of sleep. That felt good! We kept the day low key in preparation for the big afternoon.
I met 2 families that were receiving their children at 4pm, so I planned to be down in the lobby a little early to watch. Lily was due to arrive at 4:30.
We woke the boys from their naps at 3:30, and started to get them ready. The plan was for me to go down around 3:45, and Ruben to follow with the boys around 4pm. Our guide said he would be here around 4pm too. I was downstairs talking to the 2 waiting mothers I had met, when we heard the tell tale squeak, squeak, squeak of squeaky shoes. We looked up to see a woman coming in the door holding the hand of a pretty, little girl dressed in pink. I knew right away it was Lily. Oh my goodness!! She was absolutely adorable! I just grabbed one of the lady’s arms and said “that’s my daughter!”. At this point, our guide wasn't there, Ruben and the boys weren't there, and I was standing there getting very emotional ! One of the other Moms ran to the front desk and called Ruben and told him to come right down. Meanwhile, the other guide, not knowing who I was, told the orphanage director that we weren't there yet. At that point, they walked over to a corner and sat down. That was good.........although I wanted to rush right over, I needed to wait for Ruben and the boys.........we wanted to meet our baby girl as a family. That elevator seemed to take forever to get down to the lobby! As soon as they got down, we walked right over. The orphanage director didn't speak any English but recognized us from our pictures. Lily was sitting quietly on the couch looking at the photo album we had sent her last winter.
First impression was how beautiful she is with big eyes and pouty lips. She's also very small.

Here she is as we walked up
Notice the picture of our family she's holding
First family photo taken by the orphanage director. (our guide wasn't here yet)

Michael was right in there checking things out

Lily eyeing Michael while they have a snack. We need to go out and buy some more bottles of the drink, as it's Lily's favorite

Here, Lily is turning the pages of the album and showing them to Michael

Alex offering his sister some toys.

Our guide arrived and we were able to translate some information. We learned that Lily was not in a foster home as we had been told, but lived at the orphanage. She had a nanny that she was very attached to who we had thought was her foster mother. She called her po po or nai nai (grandmother)

Beautiful girl!

After a while, the orphanage director left and I picked up Lily to take her to our room. That's when the crying started. She stiffened her body and try to push away from me the whole way up to our room. She cried and cried and yelled for her grandmother. It was heartbreaking to watch. Our guide came with us. When he tried to tell her that we were her ma ma and ba ba, she would shake her hand at us and stomp her foot and cry louder for her grandmother. She has a good set of lungs and a very sad cry. For a long time we had to just sit and let her cry. She would not accept comfort from us. If we even tried to touch her gently, she would push our hand away. We so just wanted to pick her up and tell her that everything was going to be ok, but we couldn't......at least not yet. We had to start the paperwork, but it was so hard to concentrate with her crying. Fortunately, the boys handled it well. They played with the balloons we had blown up and ran between the rooms. Every once in a while one of them would ask why Lily was crying, and then go back to playing. She cried hard for about 1-1/2 hours. At that time, while I was finishing the paperwork, she let Ruben pick her up...........she was so exhausted. He brought her in the room and laid down and she was out.

When we first got to the room

When Daddy was finally able to hold his little girl

In an exhausted sleep

Ordered room service for dinner. Even with the 30% up charge on all prices, the 2 spaghetti's and 1 fried rice was only $15..........pretty good for room service.

The boys enjoyed their dinner while their sister slept.

After we got the boys to bed, we knew we need to wake Lily. She had not eaten or used the bathroom since we got her. Plus she was filthy, and hot and sweaty from crying and really needed a shower. (no bath tubs in our room) We had already been told by the orphanage that she didn't like baths so we prepared for the worse.

As soon as we woke her, she started to cry. We sat her on the potty, which didn't work, (she has never used a western potty, only squatty potties), and then we put her immediately in the shower. Ruben offered to be the bad guy, so he put on his bathing suit and tried to clean her off. She cried the whole time, although she stood fairly still until it came time to wash her hair. After the bath was done, he handed her off to me. I wrapped her in a towel and she stopped crying! She even let me sit on the bed and cuddle her!!

We then put her in her pj's (she helped), and fed her some rice. She sat on my lap and we took turns feeding her.

Alex, who came in during the crying, even got in on the action.She kept yawning through her meal, so after she was done, it was back to bed. She's sleeping now, and we hope she sleeps through the night.

In the morning we meet our guide at 9am to go to the Civic Center and sign the adoption papers. We know the next couple of days will be the hardest, but little by little it will get better. We are still waiting to see that first smile and know it will be worth the wait!

Other things we learned:

Her best friend is a little 5 yr old girl at the orphanage with low vision. She is not currently on the adoption list and won't be until they get the donation needed for her eye surgery.

Her teeth are in terrible condition. It's so sad! Her top teeth are very rotted and she has obvious cavities in her molars. I know this is not unusual, but it still makes me sad. We will be seeing a dentist soon.

Rice is her favorite food. She also likes apples and pears.

Her favorite toys are the ones that make noise.

She has not ridden in a car or bus often and got sick in the bus on the way here. We'll have to watch that in the next few days.

She is called Feng Feng at the orphanage. (pronounce Fung Fung)

She speaks some mandarin, and also a local dialect which makes it hard for the guide to translate.

She is quiet at first, but will talk a lot wants she gets to know you. (we haven't seen that yet, but hope to soon!)

She is absolutely precious, and I can't believe she's ours!