WE'VE HELD HER IN OUR HEARTS, NOW WE HOLD HER IN OUR ARMS

We praise God for this day. At 2:30 this afternoon, He placed our third daughter into our forever arms. We were at the Civil Affairs office with the other couple in our group and at least 15+ couples from Holt Intnl. Agency. It was mass chaos, with babies being brought out one by one. We were the second family to recieve ours. It was to say the least a rocky start. Bree cried for the first 45 minutes, making us all sweat mongruls. We tried to talk to the male vice director of the orphanage (who brought her with a nanny), but her cries outweighed all! Finally, the last paper was signed and we left to return to the hotel. Once in the van Bree was either too exhausted to cry anymore or she was just better getting her away from her orphanage staff. She was actually reaching for the v. director and calling him "ba ba" (which means da da). It was heartwrenching. Once back in the hotel we gave her a nice bath and then have played since. She is so smart! She repeats all kinds of words in English (mama, dada,ball,bye bye, thank you hello,puppy). She loves playing with balls-has an awesome throw, knows exactly what to do with a play phone, and shares anything with you. We fed her cheerios and puffs and then made some rice cereal, which she devoured -actually fed herself with the spoon. Then I offered her a banana and she ate the entire thing! When Doug left to go pick up some laundry, she waved and said bye bye and then leaned toward him and gave him a kiss!! It was so precious and awesome.

As far as her physical state-her hands look great, she can do anything with them. Her left leg is fine except for the foot of course. Her right leg however does not bend at the knee, when she crawls she swings her entire right leg outward. She prefers to scoot on her bottom and will even bear weight and take steps holding onto you. The rest of her exam is absolutely perfect. She comes to all three of us without any problem. We are so blessed to have this beautiful child and cannot wait for everyone to meet her.