Journey to Jadyn Grace... Gotcha day, Mon Dec 8th... China Day 3

Obviously a HUGE day in this journey, gotcha day came with many surprises and lots of excitement!
Our appointment time was not until 2:30 so we kind of sat around and twiddled our thumbs all day.  John, as any of you that know him can imagine, was very fidgety.  He couldn't stop messing with stuff, needed to just be there and get it done.  I was overcome with an emotion that never occurred to me.  I could not stop thinking about what we were about to do to this precious little girl.  Sure, we sent her a photo album to be being prepared, but at 2 years old how much can you really understand that you're leaving the only family you've ever known and moving half way around the world with these new people, I mean really!  I was consumed with grief and guilt!  Now, believe me, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God placed this little girl in our family, that she was my daughter; but in this moment that was about to occur I was the bad guy, I was the "stranger", I was the one taking her away from all she'd ever known, I was the one turning her world upside down.  I could not overcome it.  My sadness for her about this was nothing I ever imagined I would feel, I was not prepared for it.  Needless to say, I couldn't eat or barely think.
We left for our meeting at 1:30.  We arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected so we had to just and wait outside the room in a tiny entrance.
Now, understand, there are 4 families total in this province bringing home their beautiful children. We all are in this small almost entry way/foyer type space right when you get off the elevator.  We were told on the way there (3 of us traveled together there as we use the same agency) that our 3 children were all from different parts of the province.  One of them about 4 hours away, one of them a couple hours away and our precious one was actually in this city.  When we arrived at the civil affairs office we found out that the child from farthest away would be early and that our baby would be probably late.
So picture this...  we are sitting in this foyer just off the elevator outside of the office.  We know there will be children coming up the elevator but we don't know what order.  Every time the elevator lights would come on we'd all hold our breath, then nothing.  Suddenly the light stopped at us.  The doors opened and out comes this precious 13 yr old boy that immediately knew who his parents were.  He ran to them and hugged them and quickly started trying to talk and communicate with them.  It was one of the most precious things I'd ever seen in my life, even if it was happening at basically the top of the elevator!  At the same time there is a shy, precious little 2 year old boy that is trying to meet his new parents at the same time (the 4th couple from another agency).  He was so overwhelmed.  I felt so bad for them and those kids right then.  We stood there for about 5 more minutes until the office doors opened, without any more babies coming.  When we got into the office it was like a big meeting area with offices off the sides and a little play area for the kids.  There were couches and tables and chairs and such for us to sit around.  The 2 families that had met their children were happily learning about their kids, talking with the representatives from their orphanages, and playing with their boys.  Still, the other family and us... we waited, and waited, and waited!  Finally the sound of the elevator ding...  in walks an adorable little almost 4 year old to meet her forever family.  Okay, seriously, it's been over 30 minutes now and our baby girl lives here, where in the world are they?!?!?!?!  For 15 more minutes we stood there, watching these precious families meeting and loving on their new babies.  Finally, the elevator dinged again and in walked the most precious little girl you have ever seen!  She was a little hesitant at first, but we walked over to her and knelt down in front of her and she ran over to us saying "baba, mama" knowing exactly who we were!  It was absolutely amazing!  We couldn't believe what was happening, it literally was like a dream.  She laughed, played, talked, we went through her photo album and she told us about her brothers and sister waiting for us at home, it was seriously amazing!
We spent about an hour there and then it was time to load up the bus and get these precious kiddos to the hotel.  The others were doing well, but pretty quiet.  Not our baby girl.  She was having so much fun that our guide, who works for our agency, commented that this did not seem like the first day for her to meet us.
We got back to the hotel and the fun continued.  We played with blocks, we played on the ipad, we played with the baby doll, all kinds of things. We were having so much fun that we skipped dinner having cheerios and water instead.
It became time to get ready for bed so I decided to bathe her.  I was a little bit concerned not knowing if she'd had a full bath before or not.  I filled the tub up just a few inches and let her play.  She seemed to enjoy so we started washing.  She did ok, until I got to much water over her face.  She got a little upset but I wiped her off and she was better.  I wrapped her up and dried her off and put her pajamas on... then everything changed!
I guess she thought we were leaving at that point.  She grabbed her shoes and brought them to me and pointed and grabbed my hand toward the door.  She was done, ready to "go home".  When I picked her up and put her shoes back on the ground and walked away from the door the tears started.  She cried and cried and cried.  I was thankful for her to finally have a "normal" reaction to what had happened in the morning but it was so sad.  One good thing was that she clung to me.  She wasn't trying to get down, she wasn't mad, she was just sad, and she just cried.  For about 45 min.  She finally calmed down and I put her in bed with us.  It was about 9:00 and her papers said her bedtime was 9:30 so we were hoping sleep would come soon.  I handed her the ipad and she played for a little bit.  She stuck her precious fingers in her mouth and covered her eyes with her other hand.  She was almost asleep and suddenly sat straight up.  No crying, no whimpering, nothing.  She quickly climbed over me and onto the floor.  Over the next 2 hours she would pace that floor more times than you can imagine.  It will be one of the most precious memories for me of this whole trip I can promise.  She held her 2 little fingers in her mouth and walked back and forth from John to me.  She refused to get in the bed and it wasn't worth the fight.  She needed to watch us, to see what we would do, to know that we were there and it was ok.  She would walk around to John and just stand there and look at him.  Every once in a while she'd reach up and hold his hand, or climb on his foot, watching all the time.  Then she'd walk over to my side and just look.  She'd lay her head on the edge of the bed, then walk back and forth again. About half way through this time every time John got up she'd follow him, everywhere he went!  She'd just walk right behind him to wherever he was going then back to the bed, never touching him or letting him touch her, just following and watching.  It was incredible to watch, and oh such a sweet time.  Finally, at 11:00, she was walking at the end of the bed and she put her hand up over her eyes.  She literally almost fell asleep standing.  I reached over and picked her up, she laid her sweet head on my shoulder and was out!  I rocked her for a few minutes to make sure she was good and asleep and I climbed in bed and laid her between us.  That precious angel slept right there all night long.
It was an amazing day, a long day, a tiring day, but a day full of joy and hope!