OMG!!! We are equal parts "love her to death" and "exhausted"

We are sorry that we haven't posted for a day or two: we got Abigail and we have been quite busy. We are exhausted and we ache - babies are exercise! We were also unaware that new parents do not get to eat, but when presented with the choice between "eat" and "sleep", the latter is chosen.

Here are some details about getting her ("Gotcha Day" in adoption slang) that you may find interesting.

All the families were driven to the registration office and we walked in and some kids were already there waiting to be adopted and their parents were matched with them really quickly. Moms were crying, Dads were crying, newly adopted kids were looking, playing with new presents and the rest of us were snapping pictures of everything. Then the next rush of kids were brought into the room by their orphanage workers. Abigail was among them. We recognized her when she came through the door. She was carried by a young orphanage worker or "nanny". When the nanny handed Abigail over to us, she began to scream. And cry. Huge tears streamed down her face as she reached for her nanny. Lar and I had assumed months ago that when we finally got to hold her for the first time, we would both be crying, but luckily, Abigail took care of that for all three of us. The nanny also handed us a photo album, full of pictures from Abigail's first year! It was so special and not a very usual gift to receive.

The whole time we were at the registration office, whenever Abigail caught sight of her nanny, she would try to throw herself to the ground, climb rock climber style over Larry's shoulder to get to her, reach out to her and wail. It was heartbreaking. And ours was the only kid crying (she is also one of the 2 youngest).

What we found out later, after the nanny left, was that the nanny had loved Abigail so much, she called her "daughter" and Abigail had been calling her "mama" and sometimes the orphanage worker even took her home at night instead of making her stay in the orphanage. She took pictures of her, some in the orphanage, some in her home that we love so much: she is wearing funny costumes, hats, playing on the floor, opening our care packages, celebrating her birthday... this little girl was so very taken care of by this woman and hadn't been just another mouth in a line of cribs to feed on schedule!!! And we couldn't even thank her.

We are very grateful for this attention and love she had in her first year, even though it made our first day(s) together heart wrenching. While other new adoptees are playing on the floor with their parents, toddling down the hall, etc, ours is clinging to us for dear life.

Lar is amazed (as am I) that a 13 month old has such complex emotions. She has already realized that we are here to take care of her and love her, but that means if one of us leaves the room, she screams. She must be scared to death of being "abandoned" again. In addition to this challenge, she has chest congestion and a cough. We took her to the doctor and she is on 2 medicines (we don't know what), but she is not too interested in taking them.

A few pics are posted, but we plan to post many more, as well as a video, as our little monkey gets adjusted and we have more time to do such things. This has already taken 10 minutes of my sleeping time, so good night and happy viewing!