Day 2, part 1: Preparing for Gotcha Day

After a good night's sleep last night (thankfully), we woke up to a cloudy, humid day in Guangzhou.  But there are no clouds in my heart today, only bright sunshine, for today faith becomes sight when we finally meet our daughter, Jenna!!! 

Jason went to the hotel's gym to workout, while Shelby and I stayed in the room.  She enjoyed a nice bath in the big bathtub and we both giggled as we talked about Jenna maybe taking baths with her!  Once Jason was back, I went for another run through the streets of Guangzhou and the beautiful park that is nearby...my last run before becoming a mom to FOUR amazing children!  Countless people were also out this morning in the park, many doing "group fitness classes" of some type, many meditating and/or praying to trees (this made me so sad).  I wish I'd had my camera with me to take pictures of all the amazing sights to behold, but hope to go back another time for that purpose alone. 

Once I was back to the hotel and showered, Jason, Shelby and I went to the hotel's breakfast buffet.  I've been told it's awesome and this the truth!  Every type of food you can imagine in such a beautiful setting.  It was all very good, which is a good thing since we'll be eating breakfast there every morning until we leave next Friday.  Hard to believe tomorrow morning, Jenna will be dining with us!!!

After breakfast, we met with four other families and our Lifeline guide, Miko, to go over a lot of adoption paperwork and discuss our schedule for the next few days.  I got emotional as Miko talked about "Gotcha Day" that will happen in a matter of hours.  Cannot imagine how emotional I will be when that time really comes!?!?  After the meeting, Jason went to the bank to exchange some money while Shelby and I stayed in the room.  I finished preparing items for Jenna, as well as gifts to take to "Gotcha Day" for the Civil Affairs officer, orphanage director and nannies.  We were told by our adoption agency to bring a variety of gifts for various people.  However, no gift can properly say "thank you" to people who have cared for your daughter for the past 2 1/2 years.

After Jason and Shelby got back from getting a quick lunch at the nearby Pizza Hut (I stayed in the room and ate something small here, too excited and nervous for much), we left at 1:40 to head downstairs to meet up with Miko, our guide, and the other three families in our travel group.  Off to the Civil Affairs office we go to get our sweet Jenna Jean!!!