We have our baby!

The day has finally come, our wait for Julia is over and now the fun begins!

As I had mentioned before, we are part of a group (mostly from Az.) that total 9 families. It was so emotional and exciting as the orphanage director called out our names one by one to receive our babies. With the twins belonging to Art and Michele, there were 10 babies! Can you imagine those few moments when parents/family meet their child for the first time, the child they've been waiting for for so long? It's hard to explain the experience, but it was one of the greatest in our lives.

We have had Julia for about 3 hours now and she has been very good yet very active. She seems very comfortable with us and babbling, smiling and laughing. She wouldn't take a bottle but when we got room service, she grabbed hold of Jim's french fries and chowed down! Hmmm, I hope she's not a junk food lover. I keep offering a bottle, with no luck. She finally passed out on my lap and she's napping in her crib now. She was presented to us in a very heavy red snow suit (despite the warm humidity) as all the babies were. Underneath she was wearing an old tattered set of pj's with a long rip down the backside and full of holes. She is clean and healthy looking with trimmed nails, her cheeks are bright but very dry. She has a couple of teeth and chews on 3 fingers for comfort. She cannot sit up alone but likes to roll from stomach to back.

We are having a great time and enjoying seeing how a different culture lives. We are already tired of chinese food and I would be okay if I didn't see it again for years.

Beijing was alot of fun, we kept very busy with tours. Shea has been absolutely wonderful. She is a real trooper. She is happy to have a sister although a little aloof right now.

Posting in the blog is difficult now because other than my own printed words, everything else is in Chinese characters, so I hope I push all the right buttons. We cannot view the blog either, so hope you get all this info.

sara