Today's the day

Well, it's a rainy day in Nanchang; noisy, too. From our 11th floor room, we can hear the traffic honking and revving and sometimes yelling, even with our windows closed. There's plenty of construction going on in the neighborhood, and the boats on the nearby Gan River lend an occasional toot to the cacophany. Kori's trying to get some sleep, she's started a course of antibiotics, and is supplementing it with Ibuprofen and Immodium. I'm just taking Immodium.

In some ways, it seems an inauspicious day to bring a new child into the family, but "This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." It's just the kind of day, the kind of city, the kind of weather Jesus would show up in. In that spirit, and despite our flagging health, we've put a brave face on it all, and dressed ourselves in matching red shirts to celebrate our Chinese daughter's heritage and, of course, her name -- Xiu Dan, or Beautiful Red.

In less than an hour and a half, we'll be heading out to get Xiu Dan. Last night we met another family, the Roths, who will be going with us to get their daughter today. They're young and smart, and very nice, and they brought a grandma with them to help. This is Laura and Todd's first child, Nancy's first grandchild. We'll be sharing the rest of our trip with the Roths, all the way through to Guangzhou.

I don't know exactly where the "Adoption Affairs Office" is, what it will look like, how long it will take -- this is all quite different from our other adoptions. All I know is that by this afternoon, our family will be complete again, and that the most beautiful little girl in China will also be one of the most photographed.

Some of the recently-adopted babies in the hotel seem happy, others cry all of the time; some seem vigorous and healthy, some are a little flimsy. Some are basically bald, others have alarmingly robust shocks of hair protruding from their tiny scalps. Some have very light skin, others dark. I can't wait to see Xiu Dan. I wonder what she looks like now? 

I can't wait to touch her, smell her, hold her, comfort her, change her, bathe her, feed her. I can't wait to introduce her to her big brothers, to see their joy and to hear them come up with new, silly games to keep her entertained. Thank God, I won't have to. The time is almost here...