She is ours!!!!!!!

Since I know that it is pictures that you want to see- I will post those first. We are having trouble downloading the pictures from my nice camera. Of all times to have camera problems! So, I can't download any pictures from this morning. We took a few with our small camera this afternoon so those are the only ones I have. Just picture one VERY unhappy little girl and you will know what all the pictures from the morning look like. The pictures below will show you how far she has come in just one day. I made a "Flat Brett" (for those of you familiar with the book Flat Stanley) and this is Kate kissing him.

Kissing Brett again

Wow! What a day! We finally have our girl!!! Praise the Lord!!!!

The dad started off rough. Our girl grieved HARD for the first several hours. She was crying when they brought her into the room and did not stop for at least 1 1/2 hours. As hard as it was to see her so upset, we know that her grieving was a good sign that she has been well taken care of. We had about 30 minutes alone with her before we had to had to go have a family photo made for our afternoon appointment. We went to lunch with our group and then headed to our meeting with the Chinese civil affairs bureau.

We came back to our hotel to rest for a couple of hours before dinner and you would have thought that we had a different child. She started smiling, laughing, feeding Brian and I, and voluntarily giving us kisses. I don't know what happened- but we sure are thankful! She has remained happy for the most part the remainder of the night. As I was typing this earlier she kept asking me to kiss her. I bet she has asked for 25 kisses so far today. What a wonderful sign of how well she was taken care of. I just put her down for the night and she literally fell asleep in less than one minute!!!! Wow- and I thought Brett went to bed easy!!!! Needless to say, we are all exhausted!

So what do we know about Kate so far? She seems to have a very cute personality. She was waving to people on the street today and telling them hello. She is feisty and definitely knows what she wants- or doesn't want for that matter. She is a great eater- but does not like fruits of vegetables. She talks a lot- but we of course have no idea what she is saying. She loves to share. She fed Brian and I both at dinner tonight, and was trying to give her food to the baby sitting next to us. So sweet. She also seems to be developmentally on track. She walks great, can take her shoes and socks off herself, can feed herself, and has wonderful hand-eye coordination.

There is so much more to tell but I am literally about to fall asleep as I type this. I will update more tomorrow after we go to the Great Wall. Thank you for all of your comments. They have been so encouraging. Keep praying- we can certainly feel your prayers.