A Little about Kate... okay ALOT!

i don't know why this picture printed 5 times....






Well, its 5 am here and she is still asleep. The big bed kind of scared her at nap time (she never took one) so we rolled the crib by our bed. I tried to lay her down and she would have nothing to do with that, so I let her sit there. She never cried but her head would bobble. So, about 5 minutes later, I laid her back down and she just stared at me with those huge black eyes. I held her hand and she grabbed my finger. The info we had received on her said that she likes a towel over her eyes. Sure enough Drew got a washcloth and laid it just over her eyes and instantly her breathing went to a sleeping deep breathing. She has been asleep ever since. Pretty funny.
So, what do we know about her so far? She loves to laugh. She loves to watch Kalie and Karlee- doesn't interact yet of course but has wondered over close to them and just watch. Right now, she s very quiet. She will sit and play with something for quite a while. She does not like to sit in cars- oh carseats will be a blast! Bubbles were a huge hit as were cheerios and stacking cups. Anything she can put into something else, will happen. So, we have had to watch garbage cans, etc. Apparently, she rarely gets angry- we would agree. She is active- we agree. She has allowed me to hold her bottle although its obvious she is used to doing that herself but she lets me help. She has made great eye contact as well. She is scared of stuffed animals. She loves to be outside. And she is so little. She is wearing 9-12 months sizes! She ate her first piece of pizza last night and ate on that forever -she is a slow eater like her daddy! ha! Today we are going to the park and then this afternoon doing some shopping with our guide. Tomorrow we travel 4 hours to Yulin to see her orphanage and to meet her foster mother. This could be difficult so we would appreciate any prayers tomorrow. She was in foster care 5 months.
That leads me into sharing the details of yesterday. We went to the Civil Affairs building and went into this room. Right across the hall was a room full of families getting their babies and the babies were so upset. We were in a room alone. It was so emotional seeing those children crying- one specifically was so upset- she was a little older and Kalie and I started tearing up as well. (we later saw this child playing happily at the hotel with her family). We signed some papers, set up the video and stood at the door. There were toys in the room, so Karlee was interested in that- that was a huge answer to my prayers as I did not want her to get upset. The orphanage director and workers came in and then Kate walked in. She was holding a baby we had sent her. We sat on the floor and shared the babies, played on the toys and she would occasionally look up at the caregivers. Then, Karlee got her disposable camera and Kate wanted one. Kalie fixed that for her and she became very interested in that. At this point, the orphange workers left the room quietly. She gave a "uhhhh" sound but went back to watching all of us. She reached for me in this room! We stayed a little longer and then left. We then came back to the hotel to sign more papers and went to lunch. We came back and played for a while and then did the paperwork yesterday evening.
We were allowed to do the paperwork yesterday as well- usually they ask you wait 24 hours. We were able to speed that part up due to her medical appointment in Guangzhou. So, she is OFFICIALLY ours! YEA!!!
There are babies all over this floor of the hotel- some happy, others not. But everyone seems to be good. One family has 5 other children- two of whom are in college and they have wanted to adopt for a very long time and could not afford it. The mother recently lost both of her parents (not at the same time) and they chose to adopt as an honor to them. That really grabbed my heart. Well, here are a few more pictures. Isnt she a doll? The one of Drew and me with paperwork is one of us putting our thumbprint on the document that officially makes her ours! Of course I have to post one of us together since I have been waiting quite some time for that mental picture to become reality! Her smile just makes you smile right back doesn't it?