GOTCHA DAY!

I will never forget the events of this morning, the day little miss Gabriella joined our family. I have many pictures and details from our first day in Nanjing yesterday that I want to post about....but pictures from our Gotcha Day will have to come first! I wish each of you could see our sweet girl. She's even tinier and sweeter than I could have imagined....

Last night we got all the "baby girl" things ready...pink clothes, pink bottles, pink doll, pink blanket....LOTS of pink!

This is the quilt Brent's Mom made for Gabriella. It has her initials in the middle.


We met our guide, Denise, in the lobby of the hotel at 9:00 and headed to the CCAA office. We arrived before Gabbey did so while we signed some paperwork and got our things ready, Eliana watched for her arrival.

 The nanny brought her in a few minutes later. She was so beautiful! I cried tears of joy, and finally got to hold her in my arms!

 Ethan wanted to "see" her right away. He keeps saying "baby", "baby". He doesn't understand all that is going on, but is happy to see his new sister.

 First time in Daddy's arms. She kept checking out his beard! She's quiet, yet curious.

More Momma kisses. Can't get enough of that sweet face. And it seemed so surreal, to think that we finally have her!

 Eliana got out some Gerber Puffs. Gabbey doesn't put food into her mouth yet, but she willingly took it from big sissy's hand. She couldn't seem to get enough of the Puffs and some Cheerios.

 Proud Momma and Daddy!

Eliana would hold her all day if I let her. :) Here she is giving Gabbey her first toy to play with.

 Our first "family" picture, minus our two boys at home. Nathaniel and Noah, you're going to LOVE your new sister! She's so lovable and sweet.....

We even got smiles after a few minutes, and Daddy got her to laugh a couple of times, too. These are great signs, and we we thrilled that she was warm and responsive right away.

With Denise our guide.

In the Ergo and ready to leave! Just like that, we have a new baby!
After a quick trip to Carrefour (a French version of Walmart in China. That sounds really weird, doesn't it? lol), we headed back to the hotel. I couldn't wait to check out her sweet little feet and love on her some more.

 Remember how I told you that the Chinese bundle their babies? She came to us in FOUR, yes, FOUR complete outfits!
Underneath all the clothes, she's about the size of a 4-6 month old.

 Enjoying some juice.

 Sweet sisters!
She already drank a bottle for us, another good sign.

Falling asleep in her Daddy's arms. Doesn't get any better than this!

She's quiet, yet definitely has a spunky, curious side! She loves toys and can crawl and sit up pretty well. I tried to lay her down in her crib--no go---which was fine with me. I laid down with her and she was asleep on my chest in about 5 minutes. She's been sleeping on my bed ever since, allowing me time to write this.

I'm SO very happy. Thank you, Lord, for this precious little miracle.