One year, one day, nine hours

THEN


NOW
June has been with us one year and a day. Exactly a year ago, it was eleven at night in China and John and I were taking turns rocking June to sleep. She never ended up using the crib that the hotel provided for us. Instead she slept every night next to me and John, always making sure that at least one part of her body was touching one of us. John and I stayed up late most nights watching American movies with Chinese subtitles while Gabby slept comfortably on a cot covered with two feather in the next room. She had her own large, wall mounted flat screen tv which she watched nightly until she easily fell to sleep.

Gotcha day, September 13, 2007, had been was incredibly busy. Our group, a total of 13 families, was supposed to meet their the babies at 2:30pm, but ended up waiting at the government offices for about and hour after we arrived. When the nannies brought the babies out it was amazing. Every baby had a different reaction to meeting her new family. Some were quiet, others cried, and some ignored their new people. Once all of the babies were united with their families, the nannies came out to tell us about our babies and answer any questions we had. Since June was the only baby from her orphanage, we had her nannies all to ourselves.

When all of the questions were answered, the exchanging of money took place. It felt awkward to watch the nannies count out the $3,000 in cash that we had brought as an orphanage donation. It didn't seem to bother the nannies.

Once that was done, we all gathered to make our way back to the bus which took us directly to the hotel. Looking back, the day was gone in a blink. Now, a year later, it is hard to believe that it's been that long.