One year ago today, we got up at 4:30AM and left Beijing, China for Nanchang, China. It was a two hour flight. Our bus broke down on the way to the hotel, but fortunately, the driver was able to fix the problem. We checked into the most beautiful hotel I've ever seen in my life and then set out on the long, hot walk to the two-story Super Walmart. We marveled at the similarities and differences between this Walmart and the one at home. There was a moving ramp with grooves that fit into the grooves of our shopping cart, allowing you to move from one floor to the next. We purchased bottled water and made the mistake of trying to lug it back to our hotel in the heat across busy roads where drivers do not yield to pedestrians. We had lunch and made attempts to nap (didn't work- our minds were racing). At 3:45 we took a ride on the elevator to the sixth floor conference room where we waited anxiously with the other four families in our travel group. At 4:00PM, Mr. Zhou, the director of the Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute, entered the room accompanied by five babies and several nannies. Only one baby was crying. We only had a couple of old pictures of Cami under several layers of winter apparel, so we weren't exactly sure which baby she was. Craig joked that, since we were only used to high-maintenance children at home, the crying one was probably Cami. The first two babies were handed to their mothers. The babies were calm, and one of the mothers was tearful. Then we were presented with the screaming baby. Scream she did. All my preconceived notions of how this day would go were thrown out the window. Craig forgot to capture the moment on film. I paced in an attempt to calm the baby down. I whispered "ChenChen" (name her foster mom called her) in her ear. I took her into the hallway, but the marble floors out there made the screaming seem louder. The hotel employees standing at attention outside the conference room stared. I finally took her down the elevator and outside. She heaved several big sighs (so did I) and then was quiet. The bustling activity on the busy street had caught her attention. We stayed out there a good half hour. When we returned, the orphanage staff was still there and Craig had asked all the questions that I had wanted to ask of them.

Our guide told us Cami might very well scream all night. Fortunately, she did not. The crying had exhausted her. Our guide also told us she'd seen this many times before and Cami would probably scream three days. This she did. Anytime she was not held in a standing position, she got really upset. But, our wise guide was right. On day three, she woke up a new and happy baby. She continues to be a happy baby (unless tortured by her brothers).

Several months after we got home, we were able to contact Cami's foster mother. We found out that she had been taken from her arms at 8:00AM the day we got her. She was driven to the orphanage supervising the foster care and then was placed on a bus with the other babies bound for the hotel. No small wonder she was traumatized.

Today is the one-year anniversary of our Gotcha Day! Some day Cami may choose to celebrate this day rather than her birthday. We will leave that decision up to her.

To this day, I cannot believe our long wait is actually over. It became so much a part of our lives. We are thankful and blessed to have Cami in our family. Had we been even two months later with our paperwork, we'd still be waiting, fourteen months later for her. God's timing is perfect.