5th Briana Day Anniversary

5 years ago today, this beautiful baby girl was placed in our arms.

(To view our China Travel/Briana Day video visit -
http://gotchadayvideo.com/medium/)

We became a family of three on July 30, 2007...

Briana was hot, terrified, exhausted, covered in sweat and bug bites and she cried and cried...

That moment was filled with a mix of emotions - excitement, happiness, joy, love, overwhelming fear...

We tried to comfort...

And managed to get a couple of smiles out of her at the registration office...

Once we got all the paperwork signed, we were finally back on the bus and Miss B was so happy to be out of that noisy atmosphere. I gave her a bottle and she fell asleep...

Back at the hotel was the moment of calm and peacefulness that we had waited for to soak in the moment...

She awoke with a few more smiles...

Many people say on the first night to let children sleep in the clothes they came in so they can feel more comfortable and secure. But, Briana's dress was two sizes too big with a huge knot tied in the back so it would stay on. And she was so sweating so badly. The dress needed to come off. Doug and I gave Bri a quick sponge bath and stuck her in some jammies...

She was so exhausted, she fell asleep the entire night...

I couldn't stop looking at her. The beautiful girl that we had waited for so long was finally with us.