(pictures at the bottom)
The kids were up at 6:00am this morning because they were so excited! Today is the day we get to pick up Hudson. We went down to the free breakfast at the hotel and tried a little bit of everything :) After spending a long time eating, we came back upstairs and played for awhile. I cannot tell you how many times I heard, "It is taking FOREVER to go get Hudson!" I looked at my watch after the 100th time they asked and it was finally 9:30am. Our scheduled appointment to pick him up was 2:00. We met the other families who were adopting in the lobby and loaded up onto a small charter bus. They drove us 20 minutes to the Civil Affairs office (in the pouring rain) to pick him up. When we arrived, they had us all sit on couches off to the far side of the room. When they called your child's name, you came up and they brought your child to you. We were prepared for worst (because they tell you it can be pretty rough emotionally for the kids...and you). They brought him out and he looked at me, smiled, and said, "Mama." The best first words ever! He met all of us and we spent some time on the couches playing and talking. We left and got back on the bus. All was well until we started to leave. Hudson said, "Mom, my Ayi! They are leaving without her." Poor guy. He only cried about 1 minute (literally) because I found a sucker that he decided was good to eat. After we came back to the hotel room, we really got to see his personality. He is so funny!!! He has the best laugh! He enjoyed playing with the kids. He also discovered switching light switches on and off. He just thought that was the funniest thing ever. We ate McDonald's for dinner. The little guy had a chicken nuggets (didn't like) corn (didn't like) french fries (liked with ketchup...or should I say, like the ketchup...he tried to eat it with a spoon) a cheese burger (he liked but didn't eat much) and a coke (which he told me needed to have hot water added to it because sit was too cold....so we put it in the microwave and he drank the whole thing) haha! I told him it was time for a bath and he said I need my coke to go back to the orphanage. He did good with the bath, but was not a fan of the underwear and pj's that I tried to put on him. He kept saying that they were not his. I told him that I bought them for him. He ended up being ok with the Batman pi's, whew! We got all the kids in bed, but he said that he wants to sleep with Mom. We agreed that it's a good idea right now, so we tried to get him to sleep. I ended up having to go get my shower because I saw that he was not going to fall asleep quickly. I kept hearing him call to me..."Mama! Are you ok in there. What are you doing? Are you still in the shower? Are you changing clothes? I am thirsty. I have to go potty." I am starting to regret the coke we let him have from McDonald's...it's 11:00pm and the child is still awake! He is just laughing, going to the bathroom, laying back down, going to the bathroom again...surely he has to give up soon and fall asleep. He won't lay down in his bed without his Reindeer Pez dispenser. How funny! It's been silent for 5 minutes now. I'm afraid to go check. If he's asleep, hooray for Daddy telling him we will come to bed only AFTER he falls asleep! :)
