Gotcha Day

Every one be sure to say an extra prayer of thanks for God helping us to figure out technology today. haha Poor Mark stayed up for hours trying to get pics to post. They were all just too large but once we figured out that was the problem we got it working.
WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN? Besides the days that I gave birth to Amber and Joey...yesterday had to be the best day of my life. Annabel is everything and more that we have been dreaming of and praying for. These desciribe our day yesterday:
She is the biggest cuddle bug I have ever met.
She has a very soft gentle spirit.
She eats about anything you give her
SHE LOVES BATHS!!! That was when she really came out of her shell.
You lay her down and she goes to sleep.
She loves riding in a shopping cart (it was her first time I am sure)
She loves to feel Marks scruf from not shaving.
She wont let mama out of her sight (I am loving that right now)
She is so sweet and such an amazing gift to us.

Even as I sit and type I can't keep from crying because the day could not have gone any better. We traveled with another family yesterday who also got their little girl. On the plane I just sat and the tears flowed as I prayed she would accept us. The closer we got to landing the less and less Mark and I could contain our emotions. We just very quietly sat there and wiped away tears. We were both just feeling so blessed and in a way didn't feel like it was really the day. But rather a day dream. It was kind of like when your husband comes home from deployment after waiting 8 months. But this was so much more emotional then any return from deployment. All I can sum it up to was that God was moving especially strong in our hearts yesterday. He just kept reminding us around every corner how lucky we were and how much he has been in control of this day from the very beginning. We almost missed our flight because the airport changed our gate 2 times in a matter of 15 minutes. You should have seen all four of us running from gate to gate. it was so funny. The Great Wall the day before prepared us for that. Once our driver picked us up we headed straight to the babies. That is why I look so bad. haha No mouse or hairspray that morning(had to turn in bags the night before and both my mouse and hairspray were too big for a carryon.) and also NO SLEEP. I woke up at 1am the day we were to fly out. I realized it was almost time for church to start back home so I just layed in bed and prayed for our day and thought about what she was going to be like. Anyways...enough of that. Can you tell I am tired? I know I am rambling along. We got to the adoption center and walked in. They already had Annabel there with her nannies. They obviously had been preparing her with our photos. She went right to me. She didn't want to stay with me the whole time. We kind of passed her back and forth about between me and Mark and the nanny. But by the time we left the nanny and headed outside she was stuck like glue to me. It took a while to get her to smile. She smiled a little in the mirror but it was bath time that pulled her out of her shell. She absolutely LOVES water. Another plus since we love to go swimming. We just cuddled and cuddled after bath time and had a bottle then it was time to put her down. They say she goes to bed at 7pm so I tried. Now here comes the only part of the day that broke both Mark and My heart. When I layed her in her crib I rubbed her leg. She was on her back. A little scared of a new crib but she did ok since I was there. Then she started in with totally normal yet absolutely heart breaking institutionalized behavior. She began shaking her head back and forth. Kind of like you would if you were on your back and the back of your head itches. But hers didnt itch. It was very obvious she was rocking herself to sleep. I video taped it for when she is older. I cried as i video taped thinking of all the nights she didnt have anyone to rock her to sleep. that was her way of self soothing. And of all the babies still yet to rock them selves to sleep because they dont have a mommy or daddy. It is so heartbreaking. She fell asleep within 2 minutes and has been alseep ever since. That was about 5 hours ago. They say she sleeps through the night. So far so good. Anyways, I am going to try to go back and add some more pics but here are a few to get you started. Thank you so much for following our time here in China. Just so you all know we still cannot read the comments. So if you do comment please also send it to us in an email. I would still love both because I am hoping to be able to save this blog onto a disk for Annabel to have in the future. Kind of like a photo album of her first days with us. Not sure if we can do that yet, but never the less I would love both email so I can read while I am here and the comment for her to have. God bless, We miss you Amber and Joey. You are going to fall so in love with Annabel. Oh about her cleft. her lip looks amazing. The U.S. doctors told us she would probably have a little minor repair done to smooth out scarring. But even for now...I am completely thrilled for her. We are very very pleased. She has a pretty extensive cleft which we knew about already. It doesnt seem to stop her from eating or drinking. We will get the ball rolling for surgery when we get home. And of course she had a fresh shaving of the hair. I think they did it the morning of us coming because she still had little pieces of hair on her neck. But we don't care about that. She is so sweet and beautiful even without hair. haha But in the mean time...Joey I bet you are the only one in the neighborhood who's sister can blow banana out her nose. I know you would think that was pretty cool. haha Love you all Love Mark, Tamara, and Annabel Joy YiXi