I Got You Babe

I Got You Babe... Yep, take a guess by the title what (or in our case) who we've got...Kendall! Or as she is still known by Hong Xiang. To say its been a tough day is an understatement. We left the hotel as a group around 9:40 and made our way to the civil affairs office a few miles from our hotel. Traffic was again a nightmare and to add icing to the cake it was raining pretty hard. I said to Rob, "I hope this isn't an omen..." Famous last words. Needless to say it was. Everyone else's kids were waiting at the office when we arrived. The only one missing was Kendall. We were told they were on their way and would arrive shortly. Yeah right. I stood outside waiting for the car to arrive and they did not come. We were told to be patient...the orphanage is 2 1/2 hours away and they must have hit traffic. That's a little hard to swollow and continue to be patient when you've been patient for over 3 years. Allt he other families were with their kids and enjoying them and we were all alone. Needless to say I lost it and began to cry. We were then told that everyone was going to the photo shop to get our photos taken for the adoption and we would meet her there. Great, I've waited 3 freakin' years for my daughter to meet her in a photo shop. When we got there they were waiting for us and everyone left us off the bus first. So there in the middle of a photo shop in Zhengzhou we met her for the first time. She was crying when we first got to her and then she stopped and left me hold her. She was saying mama and baba (daddy in chinese) and hello. All was good until it came time to leave and say good bye to the orphanage workers...all hell now breaks loose. We have to walk back to our hotel several blocks away in the extremely humid weather carrying a screaming child. I felt like I was kidnapping her. It was one of the most awful feelings I've ever had. She screamed for a while until I finally had our guide talk to her and she told us to get her some lunch. We went to the hotel next to us and she scarfed down noodles for lunch. Man this kid can pack away the noodles. She was good at lunch, looking around the place, but would not look at me. We got back to the room and I put her on the potty and she peed! She's almost potty trained but wears a diaper at night. She kept crying and we finally got her alseep just as I had to go and do paperwork. Rob got her back to sleep and she slept for a while until Rob and her had to come to finish the paperwork. And then it started again...the crying. She finally did stop once we put her feet in the sink with water and splashed them around. Hey, whatever works. Rob and another father walked to Walmart and Kendall and I hung out in the room. She didn't cry at all the whole time. She snacked on M&M's, Teddy Grahams, and buttered popcorn rice cakes. She got what I believe was her first taste of Sprite...and biy what a face. Unlike her brother I don't think soda is in her future. Right now she ios playing with a toy phone that Rob just bought at Walmart and some squeeking bath ducks. We splurged and are waiting on room service for dinner. I didn't feel like going out into the humidity again. I'll post more later giving you all the details about her as they emerge.