Gotcha Day!

Aug. 23, 2010

Phil and Madison check each other out for the first time.

Okay, now that you've seen our beautiful daughter, I can tell you about the amazing day we have had. Our day started at the registration office. We opened the van doors and the couple with us said, "There's a little girl at the top of the steps" (with the orphange director). We scrambled to get our camera out, and then we made our way to our Madison. 

She looked at us with such a puzzled expression. Slowly she went to Phil (she was having nothing to do with me). She had a few moments of crying and kept looking over at a woman in the room. Our agency rep pulled me aside to tell me that that was her foster mother. I went to her slowly and we both began crying. With such kindness and tenderness, she began telling me about ShaSha's habits and personality (ShaSha is what her foster family calls her). She then handed me a gift for Madison (I later opened this to find an amazing photo album and letter from her foster mom). I soon went back to Phil and Madison. She definitely was being a daddy's girl.

We stayed at the registration office several hours to let the children warm up to us (there were two other children and two other families there) and also to do some paperwork. After about an hour, Madison was warming up to me. While we continued to play and get to know each other, we would see her foster mother peak in to check on her. We feel so blessed that she had a foster mother who loved her dearly and took care of her for approximaately one year.  

After leaving the registration office we headed back to the hotel. The other couple that is staying in our hotel asked if we wanted to go get lunch in the hotel's "Noodle" restaurant.  By this time, Madison was doing so well we decided to give it a try. We were able to eat together and watch our children enjoy their food. Madison is definitely an eater.  

We returned to the hotel and had some quiet time with Madison. She was still warming up to me, but when it was nap time, she went to daddy. We have had such a great day getting to know Madison. Gradually we have seen her personality shine. We haven't found anything she won't eat at this point, she has a heart-warming smile, her laugh is infectious, and we can already see that she will have us all wrapped around her little finger.  

One other note, our "special needs" daughter couldn't be more perfect. The reason she was listed as special needs was due to a moderate to severe hearing loss and she was premature.  She is a tiny peanut but her hearing is FINE. We will certainly still have her checked by the audiologist, but she seems to be hearing everything around her just fine! Thanks to you for all your prayers. She was obviously lifted in prayers from across the ocean. 

I could go on and on, but it has been a long day for us all, and I need to conserve my energy for another fun-filled day tomorrow.