Complete and Utter Perfection Part 1

8-10-09, 7:00 p.m. China time

Oh. My. Goodness!

I am rarely at a loss for words, but I cannot seem to find them today. We have experienced a piece of heaven on earth today. We knew that Xander was special, but he has far exceeded anything we could have imagined.

We drove to the Civil Affairs Office this morning with 5 other adoptive families. We were all so excited and anxious. Two of the families were becoming parents for the first time! We pulled up and got out of the bus. We were the first ones out, and I looked in the building and saw children already there! Luckily, there were children from two different orphanages, and they arrived 15 minutes apart—so we were able to video for each other. We saw Xander playing in a little play area—and honestly, I recognized him from his feet, not his face! He was smaller than we were expecting, and 1,000 times cuter! I cannot even describe his mega-watt smile!! It lights up a room!!! I walked over to him and he immediately grinned and gave me a big hug—it was a breathtaking moment. Jer and the girls were close behind, and he was equally as happy to see them. He knew who we were from the photo album we sent, and seemed completely at ease with us.

We immediately discovered that whoever filled out his original paperwork was dead wrong on one aspect. They said he was an introvert! He is instead the most extroverted little ball of energy! He immediately went to town opening up his backpack and discovering all of his treasures. Jeremy and I were smitten. Cancel that—we ARE smitten. We couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces, and I think we have said, “He is SO CUTE!” about a hundred times today! Jeremy won him over with all his funny little tricks, and has had him laughing all day. I cannot wait to see him with our boys—he will LOVE them! He is such a boy! Loves to be silly and play. He is also very very smart. He picks up on things very quickly, and is super observant. He has charisma galore, and I think Jeremy summed him up when he declared, “This boy is going to be student body president!”

He is perfect.

I know that the Lord has watched over this process from day one. I am quite sure that had his paperwork not said “introvert” but instead correctly described the this outgoing little sweetheart, I would have been scared off. To be perfectly honest, I was a little relieved to think we were going to have this quiet, timid little guy. After Graci’s adoption, I wasn’t sure we could handle another spitfire. But I was wrong. He is SO SO SO perfect for us! I mean, truly, he is something very special. We cannot get enough of him. I can’t wait for the language to be there so I can really express to him just how much we love him!

Xander’s legs/feet/bottom are probably worse than I expected (we had seen lots of pictures, but I still didn’t realize the severity of it all), but we are THRILLED with how well he gets along. He is like any other little four-year-old—running, skipping, jumping. I cannot believe how well he does—I am in awe.

We have had a great day—going out for lunch, completing paperwork, video-chatting with family, swimming, and ordering pizza to our hotel room. Parker and Taylor LOVED seeing him on the webcam, and he kept trying to give them fives and feeding them licorice through the computer! We can’t wait to get the three of them together!

Xander is currently on a little outing with his “Baba.” The only time he has cried today was when Jeremy tried to leave with just Graci and Jessica to run a little errand. They walked out the door and his chin started to quiver—then he burst into tears. It was so sad/sweet, and I immediately called Jeremy back to the room to get Xander. (: He seems equally attached to us both—which is a huge blessing—and he gets along with the girls great. I kept thinking I should pinch myself, as everything is going so amazingly well.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I know that Xander will likely have some tough times ahead, and can continue to use all of your prayers. We love him so very much! And we are so excited for our other children to have him in their lives!

Once again, Taylor, Parker, and Elli—we miss you so! Can’t wait to come home and have our family complete!!

Happy Gotcha Day, little Xu Chu!

WE ARE BLESSED.