Gotcha Day

I tried to add pictures but it didn't work! I will try again later.

Sarah,
Your first birthday came up on us so quickly. Your dad and I went to get you on May 21st 2005 and you were almost 11 months old. You were placed in our arms on May 23rd and we call this Gotcha Day! It is the day we became a family forever. When the ladies handed you to me, you wouldn't touch anything. You kept your arms up and out but you looked at everything around you. You didn't cry either. You kept watching your mom and dad and trying to figure out what was going on. We couldn't believe how beautiful you were. You had a little yellow dress and socks pulled up to your knees. I fell in love with you that very moment.
I was very nervous to meet you. "What if all you did was cry and what if you didn't want to be with us?" These were questions I was asking myself. I held you while your dad took pictures. He was a little teary eyed and almost speechless.
You fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the hotel. I knew then I wasn't ever going to let you go. All the plans I had made for us (reading together, playing together...) came at me and more. Back at the hotel, we had to have a family picture taken and you had to be awake. You were very hard to get awake and Peter had to put cold water on you to wake you. You were very mad and our first family photo is very ugly. You had a sour look on your face. Boy what fun the was. You didn't cry at all that first day and so your dad and I only fed you once more the first day. As I found out the next morning, that wasn't enough and you were not going to cry at all. Your diaper was dry and you drank the bottle in about 1/2 a minute. I really thought you were going to cry for food but that wasn't going to happen.
You were so little and under developed that you had a hard time sitting up by yourself. Your daddy and I worked everyday with you to strengthen your legs and arms and head muscles. Our 3rd or 4th day together you were beginning to hold your head up while on your tummy and you were laughing a great deal. The crib in our room must have reminded you of the orphanage so you wouldn't get in. You slept with your daddy in his bed every night. (I think that was your daddy's favorite time with you). He got you all to himself. Most of our days in Nanning were spent playing, eating and sleeping. You had never had a spoon in your mouth so that was one more challenge we had to overcome. Your loved your bottles but weren't too interested in anything else. I started giving you congee (rice soup). You would spit out the rice and drink the liquid. In the mornings after breakfast, the other girls would come over to our room and have playtime. It was fun to see the other girls with their mommies. Only one was having trouble bonding and that was Kristen.
While in Nanning, we went to the park one day and walked to an Internet cafe one day and the bowling alley another. We only ate outside the hotel once and that was for Dim Sum. (It is very different in China)
Your first plane ride wasn't so good. Your stomach was very hard and you hadn't really pooped so I don't think you were to happy. You cried most of the plane ride and it made me very sad and nervous. Once we landed in Guanghou, you fell asleep and life was better. We had to go to Guanghou to get your visa so you could go home. After a trip to the local hospital for all the girls to get checked out, we checked into the White Swan and made our home for one more week. I think we talked to Aunt Marcy at least once a day. She couldn't wait to get her mitts on you!!