Day 3: We Have Hallie!

This morning I woke up an hour before our alarm went off and could not go back to sleep so I made everyone get up to start getting ready for the day.  The butterflies really started to kick in at breakfast.  Well, just for me.  Ryan was cool.  We quickly ate, went back to our room to gather everything we needed, then met our guide in the lobby at 9am. 

 There was a van ready to drive us to the office where we would meet Hallie.

 We're there!  Walking into the office...

They took us into a room to sign paperwork before meeting Hallie, the thing is, she was just in the room next door and Ryan was smart enough to peek in that door while we were walking by.  It killed me that he got to see her and I couldn't until after we signed all of the paperwork!

After signing all of the necessary paperwork for the day, they took Ryan to another room to pay our orphanage "donation".  We took a picture because this he is the tallest stack of money we've ever had in our possession.  We were able to wire our donation for Jordan's adoption, but Hallie's had to be in cash.  It is such a relief to not have to carry that much cash anymore.

Waiting for Ryan to get back...

and waiting... (I am so nervous!)

 and waiting... (view out the window)

and more waiting.  It felt like forever!

Then Ryan came back and they bought Hallie right in!

Meeting Baba.

Sharing her Pocky Sticks with me.

Looking through the photo album her orphanage made for her.

Hallie was wearing lipstick and had a Bindi on her forehead.  When I asked what the mark was for, the social worker told me, "Beauty".

Looking through the photo album we sent her from home.  She (and our guide) really liked Maddie's picture.

Trying out her new music player.

They train them young... she already knows to hold up "peace fingers" for pictures.

This sweet girl did great!!  She was shy and a bit nervous at first and reached for the social worker to take her back a few times, but the overall transition went far smoother than I expected it would.

Four of us went in, five of us came out!

Hallie loves looking through the photo album we sent her.  She'll go page by page pointing at our pictures then pointing at us.

Hallie is amazing!  She is smart, silly and sassy.  Once she started to warm up, we discovered what a little chatterbox she is.  And she is such a tease!

Going to the store to get Hallie some Chinese snacks.

This girl knows her mind.  She let us know exactly what she wanted.

I'm getting my first snuggle, and yes, I am totally eating it up!

Baba is helping Hallie eat her snack...

Here it comes...

Yum... wait for it...

Bam!  Look at that smile.  I have no idea where the stone faced girl from our pictures went, this girl is nothing but smiles and giggles.

Our, ever so polite, Hallie likes to wipe her face with a napkin in between every bite of food.

She eats like a champ.  (as of now... I'm crossing my fingers it'll stay that way)

I'm kind of smitten.

This girl loves books!

She likes to share her snacks...

...by the handful.

Baba is helping her put an earbud in to listen to some Chinese Children's music with Enoch.

She was totally singing along!

We got a nice surprise when we found out Hallie has already been potty trained for daytime, Yay!

 Crazy bed head before she even went to bed.  And Baba is totally smitten too.

Seriously, can you believe these smiles?  I was in complete disbelief all day.  Is this really the same girl??

Hallie did not want to take off her shoes, which is totally common.  Right before bed, she was finally okay with me taking them off.

 The word of the day is Wow!  Just Wow!