Gotcha!!!!

I am posting right now with Henry Davis safe in my arms!!!! Praise the Lord!



We went to see Alma, the Consular, this afternoon. Everything went well. We rode there with Rita, Henry's birthmom. She was very quiet and didn't say much to us on the way there. After we were done, she just asked "please take care of him and send pictures". We assured her that we would definitely send pictures and gave her the 2 pictures we had printed for her and told her to check Acres of Hope for more coming. We also gave her the Africa necklace that we had gotten for her (just like Greg gave me). We also told her that we will love him very much, that he will go to school and university and that he has lots of family waiting for him. We assured her that he will have clean water to drink and food to eat and good doctors to take care of him. I basically cried my way through her appointment with Alma.




After that, we headed to the orphanage to pick him up!! We were thrilled.



At this point, I need to tell you something that I haven't posted yet. We flew here with Donna (our old adoption coordinator). She had some meetings with a new adoption agency and we wanted to spend our time in Liberia wisely by checking out every humanitarian effort possible and wanted someone with us who knew Liberia and who was interested in brainstorming ways to help! Sorry that I've referred to her as "my travel companion", but we were in fear of what the founder of the agency would do if she found out Donna was going with us and we did not want to say anything to jeopardize our son!



Back to the story. We arrived at the baby orphanage and Donna followed us in with our video camera. We were VERY careful to only video our son (for some reason, AoH does not allow you to ask kids names or take pictures of them at the orphanage. . .it's a rule that makes no sense, but we were obeying it. . .mostly, I slipped and asked little Tina what her name was. ) We arrived in his room and all of the children were completely naked!!! They were taking turns having baths in a plastic bowl in the middle of the room. We went in and met our little naked boy! He was a bit nervous, but let me hug him and kept looking up at his new Daddy! We then went to dress him in the new clothes we had brought him. It was at this point that our "gotcha day" was disappointing. Richard, the man who runs the guesthouse, showed up at the orphanage and demanded (in a VERY harsh tone) to turn ALL cameras off. He was incredibly rude. . .right in the middle of us meeting our son! We told him that we were only taping our son and we knew the rules completely. He fumed about and glared at us and went outside and yelled at another staff member. He was obviously upset to see Donna (although she left with a willing heart to help both families and the new staff). He also seemed quite upset at us that we had chosen to stay at a hotel instead of his house. It was very upsetting. I have envisioned my "gotcha day" for many years and it never included someone yelling at us. Boy, am I glad we didn't stay at that guys house! Instead we have gotten to witness many parts of our son's homeland. We went to RockHill today (I'll post on that later b/c it was pretty much life changing) and are going into the Bush tomorrow. I LOVE Liberia! I have loved exploring and falling in love with my boy's place of birth. Ok, back to the story again. We basically left the orphanage after 5 minutes. We didn't get to stay and let him get accustomed to us before leaving with him or let him have long goodbyes with his buddies. . or even explore what has been his home for the past months. . .I am hoping that the staff can figure out a way for us to go back and explore later this week.



But, with all of that said, I am still so glad I came and have him with me! I am so thankful to have Henry Davis in my arms!!! He is here. . .It's finally happened. He just fell asleep in my arms! Praise God Almighty!!! I so felt your prayers today! Thank you for praying and caring and loving us! We are so incredibly grateful. Our son is here!!! I can't wait to step off the plane and introduce you to him. . .but, for now. . pictures will have to do!


By the way, He is super cute! He hasn't said a word yet, but I did get a smile and a tiny giggle when tickling him on his tummy. He is holding 2 cars now and I made sure to introduce him to a Diego figure! He is tiny. Definitely more 12-18 month size instead of 18-24! I hope I have enough outfits for him! Now for the pictures that I know you've been clicking and re-clicking my blog for (mom!)

Greg and I with Rita, Henry's birthmom and Gifty his aunt

Our first picture together! (We have video we'll post when we get home!)

Ok, I'm totally crying here which is why I look so weird!

Us, with Henry's sweet nanny! (I'll find out her name later. . I was a little put off b/c of the guy freaking out She was so sweet, singing to him about missing him!)

Isn't she so sweet! You can tell by her smile! I said thank you and she said that she was working for the Lord!

Greg's first picture! We left in such a hurry that we didn't get one photo of him first meeting Henry!

Aren't they cute?!

The Drive back to the hotel. No, Liberia does not have carseats!

Love you guys! Thank you for praising the LORD with us! We are so excited!!