Day 5~~~~~~~~~~~Gotcha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We arrived at the Civil Affairs office at 11:30 this morning to get Ethan. We walked in the door and there sat our sweet boy, waiting patiently with his nanny, Sophie. He smiled and got up and hugged us. We took a few pictures, they shared his information with us, we showed them out passport and Notice of Coming to China...then we got to leave.

In the past 9 months, we have wondered when Ethan would possibly know what "being adopted" meant. Words cannot describe the emotions I had when we waved goodbye to the only mom he's ever know. And then...he realized.

He started crying and saying "find my mama". And then he started screaming. All I could think of was our children when they were that age, and how they would have felt if someone had taken them away from their mama. It truly broke my heart...for him and for Sophie.

We got to the hotel and went straight to the room. I got out his pillow and his backpack and cars, books, markers and crayons...anything to keep him busy. It took about 30 minutes for him to be willing to take off his jacket and feel at home. We played and ate lunch and then I told him it was nap time. He laid down on the bed with his pillow and looked at us with those huge brown eyes...and went to sleep.

I prayed to God to please watch over him and Sophie and us. I thanked him for bringing Ethan into our lives and forever changing them. I asked him to guide us over the next couple of weeks in China and to bring us all safely home to America.

We went back to the Civil Affairs office at 2:30 to finalize the paperwork...

Ethan is officially ours!

We had to sign a ton of forms and put our fingerprint on all of them. Then Ethan had to put his footprint on one. He loved that! Then off to the Notary office to get interviewed again and get our document notarized. Now we just wait in Nanchang for Ethan's passport!

We came back to the hotel and went to the kids area to play. Ethan is so social! He walked in with his backpack full of toys and said hi to the ladies in there with their babies! When he was done playing he said bye-bye and packed up his bag.

(So organized and neat!)

Now, we're sitting in the room watching Chinese cartoons until the buffet opens. Ethan's eyes are drooping...I'm sure it's been an exhausting and emotional day for him. It certainly was for us!
Dinner was fabulous...all the waitresses kept coming over and taking him to the buffet to get something new. This child can eat! I was amazed at what he tried and loved! Afterwards, Mike took him to look at the desserts. I heard him yell.."Mama, Birthday cake!" When he got want he wanted, he said "yum"!

We came up to the room and he took a shower, got his jammies on and started balling! He cried for almost 30 minutes and nothing we could do would comfort him. He wanted to go home! It was heartbreaking, but we let him grieve while we sang and told him we loved him and were just there. He is now sleeping like an angel in his sponge bob-square pants jammies.

He is truly a gift from God! I watched him grieve today for his mama, tuck his lip under and be a big boy when he didn't really understand what was happening, find security and comfort in his new mama and baba, communicate his needs and his wants...he is simply amazing and I know that all of you are going to love him!

Thank you God for all of our children and the gift of being their parents!

Love...

Tonya, Mike & Ethan

To see a video of our day: Click Here