Gotcha Night

***To start at the beginning, please scroll down and see the previous post before this!  Thanks!***

Remember I said the boys were dirty?  

After we got back to the hotel room and the boys looked at us for a little while they started to decide that we were ok people.  

We carefully removed their clothing (and saved the outfits they were given to us in) and took baths.

Ian absolutely loved his bath: 

You couldn't wipe the smile off of that face!   

He splashed so much there was more water on me and the walls than in the tub!

 Eli was very curious as to what we were doing to Ian.  

... and he looked as though he was a little nervous about the whole "bath" idea.

And he was.  He never cried, just looked totally miserable and sad the whole time.  He didn't want to sit in the water.  He wanted to stand and let me splash his knees.  You could tell he had never had this type of bath before.

Look at this broken heart after his bath!  Made my heart break for him.  He had yet to cry over all of the changes that had gone on with him that day.  Shocked would be an understatement.

They slept that night silently... although I'm sure not very soundly.  

Don't worry sweet babies, you've found your forever family.

Gotcha Day!

 Gotcha day was like a dream come true... literally.

I have dreamed of this day for many years.

I have specifically dreamed of these sweet boys for 10 months.

Crying and praying over their picture every night...

Wondering if they are being taken care of like they should be.

Big Brother and Big Sister were excited.  I felt like it was too good to be true.

And it was.

First to come in was Ian.  He cried his little heart out when the strange blonde headed lady with a big nose and an even bigger smile held him.

I had him in my arms.

I.  Had.  Him.  In.  My.  Arms.

!!!

The room was crowded, hot, bustling with people.  Excited ones, nervous ones, scared ones.  Crying babies everywhere.

But I had him in my arms and didn't notice anything else.

Ian's orphanage made him a photo album:

Then came Elijah.

I heard someone shout "The bus from Nanyang is here!"

I grabbed the video camera and ran to the door.

My heart was racing 90 miles per hour and tears and snot were flowing.

I saw him instantly and my heart melted a second time.

He did not cry.  He stared.

Terrified, but unable to cry.

He felt like he had always been in my arms.  Just natural.

He had a package of cookies in his hands.

And his foster mother sent him with a toy gift.

He.  Was.  Loved.  Thank you, God.

Both boys were dirty, and eaten up with bug bites.

We whipped out the sippy cups and snacks.

 When we got back to the hotel room we took their shoes off.

Look at the poor shocked faces:

 They went through a lot that day.

Everything they knew had been taken away from them.

Strange people with big noses and pale skin kept smiling and talking to them in a strange language.

They will warm up to us.

Thank you, God for your two precious additional blessings to our family.