On Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999.  We woke up at the Holiday Inn in Hefei, China.  We went upstairs and had a wonderful buffet breakfast.  We saw all our travel mates and they were all just as anxious to see their new daughters as we were.  We had decided to receive our daughters privately in our hotel rooms.  Many adoption groups receive them all together in a conference room.  Dr. Tom, who came on the trip with us, said that it can be overwhelming in the conference room with babies screaming and parents crying. We thought it would be too stressful for our girls especially because this was an older group of babies.  We had six babies coming to us in Hefei. Three of the girls were about 33 months old.  Two were 19 months old.  They were all from Tongling.  One baby was 6 months old, but she was from a different orphanage.  There was one other baby in our travel group.  But they were not in Hefei with us.  They had to travel to Jiang Xi to get their 14 month old daughter.  We were suppose to wait in our rooms until Ma Rui and the nannies brought our babies to us.  John and I couldn't stand the waiting so we snuck down to the lobby to wait for the babies there.  Surprise...two more families from our group were also waiting in the lobby.  We decided that we would not touch or talk to the babies, we didn't want to scare them.  We would wait to get acquainted when they came to our rooms.  But we just HAD to see them!!  We couldn't wait!!

I would have to say without a doubt, that this next scene was one of the most amazing and incredible moments of our entire lives!!  I saw a woman walk through the door holding a baby.  Is it the nanny??  or a mom with her child??  All of a sudden we see another woman holding a baby coming up behind her.  Then we see a whole line of nannies bringing our babies into the hotel.  I cannot describe the feeling, it completely took my breath away.  At first I thought any one of the babies could be Mia.  But then Mia came in and I recognized her immediately.  She had on a pink sweater and red pants and she looked so chubby with all the many layers of clothes on.  The nannies got in the elevator and the moms squeezed in with them. (no room for the Dads)...there really wasn't enough room for all the Moms but we all squeezed in anyway!!  We all just stood in the elevator looking at our beautiful daughters!  Everyone got off at the 11th floor.  The whole group, the Dr. and guide were all on the 11th floor, except us and Linda's family. We were on the 12th.  So I went up to the 12th floor by myself. I was so preoccupied and excited that I forgot to push the button.  I ended up on the 19th floor.  I got out to wait for a down elevator, which felt like it took an hour to come.  I finally got down to the 12th floor and met John, who was about to take another elevator to go look for me.

Mia coming into our room with her nanny

John and I waited outside our hotel room, in the hallway. All of a sudden we saw Ma Rui, the nanny, and Mia coming down the hall.  I snapped a picture of Mia, which seemed to startle her, so I kept the picture taking to a minimum for a while.  Mia and her nanny stayed in our room for about 45 minutes.  Mia was extremely clingy to her nanny and would only come to us for cheerios or raisins.  We kept our distance but sometimes we would get to touch her arm or rub her back as she was walking away.  Her nanny seemed very sweet and patient with Mia.   Mia was very funny!!  She was trying to get all the toys we gave her and the food in her hands all at once.  She kept trying to get her nanny to leave with her.  Once Mia picked up all the food and toys that she could, walked to the door and stood there.  She definitely didn't want to be left with us.  When it came time to go down to the conference room for paper work.  The nanny and Mia got in the elevator.  Mia was sure surprised and not very happy to see that John and I got in the elevator too.

Mia and her nanny looking at our photo album in our hotel room in Hefei, China.

We were down in the conference room doing paper work for close to 2 hours.  The nannies stayed the entire time, and Mia stayed by her nanny.  It was wonderful to meet and see all our travel mates babies.  Mia, Kaitlin (Ling), & Chun-Chun drew pictures together and played. 

Chun-Chun, Mia & Kaitlin in the conference room with their nannies.

Mimi didn't leave her nanny's side for very long.  At one point, we had to pick Mia up and take a picture as a family for the adoption certificate.  WOW!! Did Mia scream!!!  So our first family photo is of John and I smiling ear to ear and Mia screaming her head off!

When it came time for the nannies to leave, they just got up and left quickly.  Mia was screaming in John's arms.  We thought it might comfort her to cry with one of her "sisters".  So we put Mia with Kaitlin on Kaitlin's mom, Elizabeth's lap.  The two girls cried and cried, real heart breaking tears for about a half of an hour.  I just sat by Mia's side and rubbed her back.  Then we brought Mia back to the room.  Within a few minutes of being in the room, Mimi became extremely clingy to me.  I think that Mia's nanny prepared her well for what was going to happen.  I think it also helped the initial bonding, that we had some very positive interaction with Mia's nanny before she left.  This made Mia feel that her nanny liked us, so maybe she should give us a try.