Gotcha Day (Continued): Meet Zachary!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.....see what you think!

 I was SO glad that Zachary didn't have to be forced into our arms because it was so not his personality. I just had to be patient as I let him warm up to me! Mark stayed in the background, nervous he'd scare Zachary!

 I LOVE this photo! He was interested but didn't want to show it----yet! "Who IS this crazy white woman?"

 I tried to bring all the toys and snacks out to peak his interest but nothing was working!

 I'll just wait here for you, Zachary!

 What? All of a sudden he jumped into my arms!!

 That sweet, sweet smile! We're finally here!

And now the video that shows it all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1g8k01ffsY

Gotcha Day Morning! July 16, 2012! Zhengzhou, China--Henan Province! Zachary & Tian Here We Come!

I love this video! Taken just hours before meeting the boys!

Breakfast that morning was going to be the most calm breakfast we would have in a long time! The next morning we would be having breakfast with 4 kids instead of just 2! And we'd now be back to parenting toddlers again!

Waiting in the lobby for the bus to arrive to take us to the Civil Affairs Office!

 We're on our way! Yisha is giving us instructions.

Yisha told us that once we arrived at the Civil Affairs Office, that we may have to wait until our child/children arrived. Some would be traveling further than others and some of us may have to wait for a long time for our child to arrive. All of the children are in the Henan Province, but they were from different cities. They would be brought by car or van and arrive with at least one representative from the orphanage.  Zachary was from Xinxiang and Tian was from Luohe City. What we didn't expect was that as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Yisha tells us "Xinxiang is here, Xinxiang is here! Get your cameras ready! Children are already here!" We didn't have time to prepare! We just hurriedly started rushing up the stairs. It definitely wasn't what I'd expected at all!

When we first got inside, I looked over into the play area and saw this little boy and wondered "Whose boy it that?". It didn't look like Zachary at all! Our pictures of him showed him with either his head shaved or with a hat on covering all of his hair. I didn't even recognize him!!! 

My next post will be to show our wonderful Gotcha pictures of Zachary! 

Night Before Gotcha Day! July 15, 2012! So Much Nervousness and Anticipation!

You just never know what that feeling will be when you are finally in the place where you are less than 12 hours away from meeting your children for the first time! So many thoughts were racing through my head. Will the boys look the same? Will they have other medical issues that we don't know about (besides the ones listed in their reports)? Will they scream when we meet? Zachary was almost 3 1/2 and Tian was 34 months old. What will their personalities be like? How will they react to us as parents? How much of this will they understand? What will they think of Grant and Cara? It was so hard to get to sleep that night but with the help of Benadryl I was finally able to sleep. I had everything laid out in preparation for their arrival. It was kind of like packing your bags before heading to the hospital for the delivery of your first baby! 

 Our family of 4 is about to become a family of 6 overnight!

Zhengzhou Walmart! What an Experience! July 15, 2012

Yes, we had to find out how to get to the local Walmart! We were able to walk a few blocks in the heat, humidity, and smog to get our Walmart fix! How exciting! I had seen emails going around in the past showing the Walmart stores in China and I'd always wondered if maybe, just maybe it was all made up. Guess what? It really is like the pictures you've probably seen in those emails!

 Yes, the Walmart was in that big tall building!

I wonder if there's a China peopleofwalmart.com ?

 Now that's some fresh fish!

 Sting Ray for dinner?

 Anyone need some snacks?

 Oh this looks delicious, doesn't it?

 The whole chicken and nothing but the chicken....head, feet, everything!

 At first someone in our group freaked out because they thought the top animals were dogs! 

 Welcome to China!

Yea! Oreo Cookies!

 I thought this was hilarious!

Yummy!

July 15, 2012 Fly to Zhengzhou, July 16th: Gotcha Day!!

We got up early enough Sunday morning in Beijing so that we could have the buffet breakfast before all of us needed to meet George in the hotel lobby and get on the bus to go back to the airport to fly to Zhengzhou in the Henan Province!

Grant, Cara and Colt--ready to go!

While waiting at the airport we met this little cutie! It was easy to tell that he was a boy because he had split pants on and no diaper or underwear! (very typical in China!) Isn't he adorable?

Saying goodbye to George! What a great guide he was! Off to the next city and to meet Zach and Tian finally!

The next pictures will show just how slap happy the kids and I got! This is on the flight from Beijing to Zhengzhou! Note how relaxed and sleepy the Chinese women behind us are!

Yes we are nuts! But no one seemed to notice, now did they?

Are we there yet?

YES! We are!

Now poor Yisha and Vivianne....they had to figure out where to put all of our luggage!!!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel....here is our room!

Next posting will be of our 1st night in Zhengzhou, our trip to the ZZ Walmart, and the morning before we met Zach and Tian! I'm slowly catching up!