GOTCHA

Well we finally have Rebekah in our arms. We got the call to come down to the conference room at 2:55, our guide, Michelle, told us to come down at 3:15 but we left early and proceeded to wait for 45 minutes. There are 16 families in our group so when the babies came in there were oooo's and ahhhhh's coming from every corner. Madeline was going to video tape our gotcha moment but another family volunteered so Madeline could be in on the moment. We were the last family to get our daughter. I had figured that it would be that way because she was the last baby to come in with her nanny...yes I recognized her before she was announced. It wasn't long and she was in our arms. She did not cry, but mommy did. Madeline was excited and kept asking "can I hold her, can I hold her" so she held her. Rebekah really did not cry until we got her back to the room...and boy can she cry! She seems to have bonded with us already. Kelly had to leave to sign some paperwork so Madeline and I broke out the magic food...CHEERIOS and she perked up and began interacting with us instead of crying. When Kelly returned, Rebekah saw him and started to kick her feet and then she smiled for the first time and began to laugh. From then on it has been smiling, laughing, and goo gooing. She likes the "papa ooo mau mau" song and "copacobana" by Barry Manilow, go figure that one. She seems to have attached to mama because when I tried to leave the room for the bathroom she began to cry (makes me feel good). All three of my babies are now asleep and enjoying their sweet dreams. (Kelly fell asleep before everyone.) Madeline was trying to stay awake and when I finally said to go brush her teeth and pray she broke down crying because she wanted to stay up and watch Rebekah sleep. It took Rebekah only 5 seconds to conk out. We know she was fighting it but when she was ready that was all she wrote.
Oh you guys are probably saying, "PICTURES...SHOW ME SOME PICTURES!!!" Here they are.

WAITING..

Well it is one and a half hours before we are to be united with Rebekah. We have been asked to stay in our hotel room and wait for a call to notify us that Rebekah has arrived then, in a few short moments she will be in our arms.

We Made it toChongqing

Ni Hao from Chongqing. Well we finally made it to Chongqing no worse for wear this morning. We are exhausted but ok. We laid down for a quick nap this afternoon at 3pm not wanting to sleep long for fear we would not be able to go to sleep tonight...WRONG - we slept for 2 hours and had avery difficult time getting up. Madeline did not fair so well on the planes, she got airsick at the end of our flight to Tokyo, and threw up in the only thing we could reach for, a airplane blanket...YUK. Poor girl, she has been getting airsick ever since. It usually comes about right after a bout of turbulance. Madeline has been her usually friend maker. On the plane to Tokyo there was a 6-year-old gild named Mion (me-on)who became fast friends when they saw eachother and hugged. Madeline immediately asked her to come sit with her (which very difficult on a plane) and watch a movie. Instead, they settled for doing and coloring dot-to-dots until the flight attendant came by and said they could not share a seat and seatbelt. So we sent Mion off with a few coloring pages and colored pencils.

Our guide, Michelle, is GREAT. She has done so much advance preparations for us, even checking us in the hotel before we got here. You may not think that is a big deal but it is A LOT after you have been traveling for over 26 hours straight and all you have to do is say "we are the Wood's" and they give you a key to go straight up to your room within seconds. Traffic is "crazy" here and there are not very many stop lights, we have only seen 2 so far, but everyone seems to get were they are going eventually.

We have found a few comforts of home real close to the hotel, one of which you coffee lovers will love.


Today is a day of rest for us before we begin the busy work of tomorrow at 10am. Our schedule has changed and we will be getting Rebekah at 3pm tomorrow instead of 5:30p - YEAH!!!. on a side note, Kelly has found the joy of hotel robes, I would upload a picture but have promised him I wouldn't.

Have a GREAT DAY today. We love you all.

in minneapolis

We made it to Minneapolis with ease and early. Our plane was scheduled to land at 5:26pm but we landed at 4:58, almost 30 minutes ahead of shcedule although we had to wait just 50 feet shy of the gate becasue we were so early that there were no gate workers there yet to move the gate out to the plane so we had to wait for them. The Mall of America is right across the street from our hotel so Madeline got to ride the fariswheel inside the mall. We would have rode more rides in the indoor amusement park but it was closing, so we will try to go back tomorrow morning to ride some more before we leave for Tokyo at 3pm. Madeline has impressed us with some new words "pinwheel" = fariswheel and "middlezoopark" = amusement park. It is very cool here and we are enjoying it. I wish we could spend more time here to visit other sites instead of only the Mall of America. Thats all for now.

Oh The Places We'll Go

One of my favorite children's books is Dr. Suess' Oh The Places You'll Go and I have to say that our adoption journey has been like a "PLACE" in that book, The dreaded "Waiting Place!" We have had a two and a half year stint in that place described below:

...You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting...

OR in our case waiting for a baby to come. So with that Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who have been there and prayed us through this wait. We love you all so very much. We ask you now to pray for safety in travel, rest, and for Madeline and Rebekah as both are going to be thrown out of their comfort zones. We are so blessed to be able to welcome Rebekah in our family and cannot wait to hold her in our arms finally.