We met her!

Well, we just get back from the orphanage after meeting our daughter!

Here's how it all went down...

We were picked up at 9am local time and we rode to the orphanage. We were in the car with the driver, interpreter, and coordinator. They answered alot of our questions on the way there. We found out that she knew we were coming that morning to meet her. They told us that she was very excited to hear that she had a Mama and Papa coming to see her.

We went in to the director's office but they were in the middle of repairs. We had expected to meet with them, ask questions, go over the medicals etc. Instead, because of the repairs, they just went to go get her.

A walked in and as she was coming in they said we were her Mama and Papa and she came right over and climbed into Bill's lap. She was smiling and looking around. Just adorable. We gave her one of the little books that we brought her, she clutched on to that thing! She took us outside, and yes, she took us. She had both of us by the hands and was practically dragging us through the whole compound telling everyone that we were her Mama and Papa. We played with a doll in a stroller, swang on a swing, and took some photos. She showed us her room too.

We had a glimpse of the challenges of having a toddler. It was almost lunch time and someone came in to pick up their child and they brought wafers for some of the staff. Well, they gave her one of those and then everytime the woman walked by with them, she wanted them. We tried to get her to go in a different direction and she proceeded to drop all her weight to her bottom and cry. Needless to say, it was a bit stressful. We hadn't expected tears this early! Luckily, the digital camera saved the day and captured her attention again. She definitely takes after her mother, very stubborn. She knows what she wants and doesn't want anyone to stop her! They did say she is always wanting food and doesn't know what is a normal time to stop. Pretty typical behavior for a kid growing up in an orphanage.

Her hair is a little bit longer that we expected, but still very short. She is about the height we thought, close to 3ft tall. She's heavier than we expected! She's skinny but as they say "she has heavy bones". They had a pretty dress on her and then put a shirt over it that was a 4T and it fit her well. I soooo have to start lifting weights. She is definitely off balance because of whatever is going on with her leg. They suggest massage and getting her on a tricycle. Both sound like good ideas to me. We'll have it looked at when we get her home to determine if it is a back, hip, knee or foot issue. It doesn't slow her down at all, that's for sure.

They are going to allow us to take her out of the orphanage which is cool. There is a park nearby that they said we could go to. They seem really happy to have found a family for her. Come August, her 4th Birthday, she would have to move to a different orphanage so we came just in time they said. We get to go everyday and we will have the meeting with the director on Wednesday.

Tonight we are going to sort through our donations to determine what is for the missionaries, the orphanage, and the baby hospital. We will take the baby hospital items on 6/1 which is a holiday here called something like, Children's Protection Day. The orphanage items we will bring on our last day. We are also going to have dinner with our travel buddies (Maria, Kevin & Josh) and hopefully set up some Russian tutoring because A understands the language well.

Oh, we were able to borrow an adapter from the hotel so we can use our computer since it has a converter. However, we can't charge the cameras until we get a converter because they don't have one already on the power cord. So, we are also going to have to find one of those at some point!

That's all for now!

Elizabeth