Gotcha!!

First things first! Here she is!!

As I type this Penelope Mei is lying here beside me. She's not quite asleep, not quite awake. 

It's still unreal! It's 2:30 pm here in China. Today has gone as well as I could have imagined. Words first then pictures...

We left the hotel at 9:30 to head to the Civil Affairs office where we would get Penelope. 

It was so amazing watching the other families receive their children! Luoyang was last to arrive at 11:00 am. 

Penelope came right to me without a fuss. No tears, not quite any smiles yet either. She had a piece of candy in her hand when she got there, she still has it in her hand now! 

She is so, so tiny. As in the size 2 diapers are huge tiny. When they handed her to me she felt like a feather!

In some ways it's like she is a young baby. Her muscle tone is terrible, but she basically has no muscles. We've seen pictures of her standing but I can't imagine how those little legs can hold her up! Right now she's like holding a rag doll but I know that will get better. 

She's also had a hair cut. She looks like a baby monk ;). We were thrilled when she started sucking her thumb, just like her big brother Quincy!! 

When we got back to the room, we just snuggled a few minutes and face timed w Mam & Bamp and Nanny & Papa. It goes without saying that they are impressed! I had a hard time figuring out how to use the hot pot to warm the bottle, but once I did-look out!! She took it right out of my hands and chugged it! The she ate a whole bowl of puffs. I changed her clothes and put a bow in her hair - fun! Then we orderd her some congee -think thick soupy rice- and she ate that too. We're going to try to get as many calories in here as we possibly can everywhere we can!! 

Now she's lying here beside me with her candy in her hand. Jason is downstairs doing paperwork with our guide, then I will go. otherwise we just work on bonding today. Gabe is pretty crazy about her already!!

Pray for Penelope that she gets stronger and bonds well with us! 

Again, thank you so much for all the prayers and kind words. I'm reading every one of your comments. They mean so much! This little girl has no idea how many people have been praying for her!!

Now what you really want, pictures!!