Here's our girl!

Lots of paperwork to adopt a baby in China


Just before we met Maya


Maya meets her forever mommy

I see some teeth!


Mommy gets some quality time

Daddy's little girl

There are very few words in the English language that would describe the level of emotion we experienced today. From the time I awoke at 6:00 AM until an orphanage nanny placed Maya into Lori's arms at 3:08 PM there was so much adrenalin running through my body it felt like electricity.

15 couples, some with children, all piled into a bus in 100 degree heat to drive to the Changsha Social Welfare Institue to meet their new children for the first time. There were 16 babies ages from 9 months to 3.5 years being adopted. Everyone was in their own zone but the level of anticipation on that bus was off the charts.

After a short drive we arrived at a very plain looking old three story brick building, drove through some iron gates and we were there. We knew that our babies were already somewhere inside waiting for us. They herded us into a small hot room where we all pulled out cameras and waited.

I can only describe the next scene as somewhat chaotic. They began calling out names one by one. "Strong" came first. Our friends Brad and Kristy came forward, showed their passports to the orphanage director and were handed their beautiful twin daughters. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house after that.

Then came the rest, one by one. Finally I heard someone say "Xiao Jiao", and we saw our little girl for the first time. I will never forget this moment for the rest of my life. Maya looked just like her photo - except shrunk down three sizes. I knew she was small, but she is TINY!! Immediately, the orphanage director lifted up her split pants and showed us that Xiao Jiao has a pretty terrible case of diaper rash (for the uninitiated, split pants have a slot in the back side to allow the baby to poop and pee - diapers are expensive and very labor intensive to use so orphanages in China use split pants and try to potty train the kids very early). So while Lori held Maya for the first time, the orphanage director pulled me aside with a translator to tell us all about her symptoms and what medicines she was receiving. This was initially somewhat concerning to me with the way they were presenting it. It turns out that besides the diaper rash, she also has a head cold - she is sniffling and sneezing - and some sort of skin condition - maybe a small rash. They seemed very apologetic about her condition even though it seems like nothing to worry about. After inspecting her, we weren't too concerned about it and we told them so. We are fortunate to have a doctor and his wife in our group adopting their third daughter from China, so he will try to take a look at Maya tomorrow.

Maya is an amazing little girl! We got her back to the hotel, and just plopped her on the bed to take a quick inventory. Other than being very tiny (she barely fits into 3-6 month olds clothes although she is almost 10 months) she is a very bright, curious, and happy baby. Even though she went through this tramatic event (for the third time in her brief life) and she had all these ailments, we already received some hearty smiles and at least one healthy belly laugh after playing with her for a few hours. Reportedly all the girls from Hunan are "hot and spicy" and we saw a little of that side too! We're in for quite a ride!!

We'll post some more pics in the next few days and maybe even a video or two. The pics take a long time to upload here in the biz center and I haven't had time to troubleshoot why Lori's Mac won't recognize the hotel's network (I just know I'm going to take all kinds of flack from my co-workers on that one! :-). We picked a few of the best pictures to give you something to hold you over another day, enjoy!

Tomorrow is very special, it's Maya's adoption day. We will officially become parents to our Maya at approximately 9:30 AM (7:30 PM - Thursday - Colorado time). We love and miss you all and can't wait to bring Maya home!

Good night for now.