Welcome, Elizabeth Xiangli

Yesterday afternoon in our hotel in Nanchang, we became a family of four. The director and caretaker of Nindu County SWI placed Betsy, whom they call LiLi, into our arms. It was quite obvious that took great care of her and loved her very much and we can't thank them enough for this.


Betsy is a revelation. She initially was very afraid when she first saw us, but calmed down within an amazingly short period of time and today is hanging in pretty well. She is very strong and surprisingly robust, given that she is a heart baby, and definitely opinionated and we were told was a favorite of the staff at her orphanage. She is at the moment a real Mama's girl (and in fact, has been saying Mama almost immediately to me--I think they were showing her the picture we sent so she is a bit familiar with us.) But givent that Joe is the Pied Piper of all children, I don't expect this to last. ;-) She also is very loving and gives hugs and kisses already and absolutely adores her jie-jie (big sister) and Katie is absolutely enthralled with her mei-mei and already is fiercely protective of her and literally sits by Betsy's crib waiting for her to wake up when she is asleep.

Our first night was surprisingly peaceful. As many of you folks know, the first night you spend with your new child is often anything but restful and I was anticipating the worst, especially since Betsy is a bit older and Katie was so easy the first few weeks that I figured that we were due for a rough transition this time. But it was pretty easy and Betsy went down at her usual time very peacefully.

The peaceful night was a good thing because sleep was a bit elusive given that the A/C was out in our hotel room and today was a busy day as we had to go to the provincial offices to finalize the adoption papers. We again got to see the old director and new director at her orphanage and it was quite apparent how close she was to them and how fond they were of her. It was quite heartwarming to see how much they care for here. I again cannot express how grateful we are to them.

As of this morning, it is official: we are now a family of four. Welcome to the family, Miss Elizabeth Xiangli!

(Pictures and video to follow as soon as I get them all uploaded. We have been a bit behind schedule with this since we have been changing rooms and getting settled. Plus, our budding photojournalist of an elder daughter was documenting the moments on our digital camera to amuse herself and I am having to filter through a lot of pictures to find them. But I hope to upload pics today or tomorrow.)