May 16, 2013: 9:01pm, Guangzhou

May 16, 2013:  9:01pm, Guangzhou

Today was a wild day!  At 2:30pm, just minutes after Zia Mei went down for her afternoon nap, our hotel room phone rang (it’s SO loud!)  It was Zhou…he was talking so fast I could barely understand him.  The gist was:  wake baby up now, come down to the lobby now…the Embassy has re-opened and you have a 3:30pm appointment!  So we threw baby girl in the carrier and rushed downstairs.  She was adorable…so sleepy, but didn’t cry the entire time. She is such a trouper. 

We are sooooo pleased to say, we have officially become a family!  Zhou picks up Zia Mei’s visa tomorrow afternoon, and we are on a plane back home this Sunday!  Woohoo!!!  Finally! 

The Embassy appointment was a very interesting (and emotional) experience.  They usually only take 12 families a day, but due to the chaos this week, they were processing 100 child visas today. The room was full of adoptive families…it was a very cool experience.  They called us each up one by one to the window where they made sure we had all the correction documentation in order.  I think Zia really knew something exciting was happening.  She kept pointing and she even blew a kiss to the lady behind the window.  Usually she only blows kisses to us, and every once in a while she will blow a kiss to one of our friends when prompted, but today, she was all smiles and had kisses to share.  We were the second ones called to the window but were there for a little over two hours waiting for everyone else to be called.  After everyone was done, an official asked us all to stand and raise our right hand and repeat a statement after her, basically promising to be wonderful parents to our children. Zia Mei kept looking up at us with her beautiful wide eyes. The entire room repeated the statement in unison, and truth be told, we couldn’t even tell you exactly what the statement was that we repeated, because we were  so emotional! I think I was the only grown woman in the room crying!  It’s been a long time coming, but we are finally very proud parents.  It’s official!