We have Brooke and she is ours!

We have Brooke! She is sound asleep in the crib right now. She is absolutely magnificent and we could not be happier. Initially she went to Karen with no problem but then later burst into tears. She favors John right now and is very content being in his arms and stares up at his face in wonderment. She is wearing the 12 month sizes is well and is a little smaller than we thought. Right now I have her in a 6-9 month sleeper and she seems to fit into it nicely but it looks like she will be done with that size in a few weeks. When she looks at Karen she immediately tears up. We did see a big smile last night, but just one. The notes we received indicated that she was very attached to her nanny and she is probably greiving for her. She is very congested with a runny nose. We are giving her over the counter Robitussen and that seems to have helped a lot. I think all the crying also made the problem a little worse. Sienna was very excited and was an over zealous big sister last night. She wanted to hold Brooke, and she did with mommy and daddy's help. Here is a run down of the momentous day.
To say it was a hectic would be the understatement of the year. We had our bags out of the door at our Hong Kong Hotel at 7am and that is where we began. We had breakfast and gathered at the Lobby for the bus ride to the airport. We had a full bus with just our group. One family is traveling with 7 people, Dad, Mom, Grandparents and 3 teenages and now they just added an 8th. We are 34 people total and was told that there are another 30 families staying in the hotel and also adopting from this province from other agencies. Anyways, we went to the airport and flew to Guangzhou where we changed planes (very quickly) for our flight to Nanchang. Just a comment on Guangzhou-POLLUTED. The air looks like you were right in the midst of the Malibu forest fire. I have never seen anything quite like it.
Nanchang is not a destination for foreigners. We were on the plane with one caucasian businessman and the rest were Chinese. The outskirts of Nanchang look like the drive on the edge of Tijuana except for one thing there is a horrible smell of coal burning. It is a smell that makes your chest hurt and sinuses burn. It is an intense coal burning smell.
We crossed a river with a lion poised along a bridge and learned this was the city where the first shot was made against the nationals by the Communists on August the 1st, 1927. Therefore, we were on the August the 1st bridge, there is also an August the 1st city square etc. Nanchang is a big Chinese city of 3MM and 2MM live downtown. There are wide avenues and lots of traffic. We arrived at the JinFeng Hotel and I have to say it far exceeded my expectations. Definately a 5 star hotel.
On the bus we were debriefed about the evening...and here is when it gets surprising. On the way from the airport we were told we would be be getting the babies at 5:30pm and we were to be in a conference room in the hotel by 4:40pm. We literally had a 1/2 hour to put down our things and meet. They ordered pizza hut and we were debriefed on our babies and then someone noticed all the babies and orphanage staff down one floor below in the courtyard. They were all bundled in little blue bunting with the same slippers. We couldn't make out the faces. After about 20 minutes and 3 quick pieces of pizza shoved into our mouth the babies began to arrive and were handed off. We were 2nd. Brooke is a beauty as you can see. She appears very healthy other than a cold.
We received one of our two disposable cameras back we had sent and the orphanage kept everything else including the pictures of us as a memoir. There is a birth note that we will be able to photograph but have to leave here in her files with the orphanage. As a gift the orphanage gave each family a little photo album with pictures of the babies during their time in the orphanage.
Then we were told we would have about 1 1/2 to feed and bond with the baby before meeting back. When we got back to the meeting room and there was an official and we signed paperwork, took pictures, gave a gift and the adoption was completed! We are now the proud parents of Brooke Chang Drew (Chang is pronounced Chung). Her nickname is Chang Chang.
Got to run now for more appointments.
Love to you all! Karen, John, Sienna and Brooke
Update: Sorry this is so late to all of you and I know you are all waiting for news of the baby. Last night was only rough till about ten pm. Brooke only wanted to be held by John and that put a lot of pressure on him. When he finally handed off Brooke she had a hysterical fit and woke up Sienna who was dead asleep. Then Sienna had a hysterical fit the likes of never seen before. All this noise seemed to calm Brooke and put her to sleep. Sienna probably carried on for about 45 minutes before passing out again.
This morning we had a different girl. She is a Doll! She smiles and coos and rocks back and forth when she is happy. She is easily entertained and has quite an appetite. They probably went through her photo album of us because she called Karen Mama a few times.
After breakfast we first went to the Adoptions office to pay all our fees and then picked up the other half of the group (only one had to go to the first appt.). Then we went to another office to meet with a Notary and were given our final adoption papers. After this there were pictures taken of the baby at another location. When we got back to the hotel the Asst. Orphanage Director arrived to answer questions about the baby and tell us about the orphanage. We saw Brooke's finding note and the only thing on it was her birthdate. So her actual birthdate is 2/4/07.
After all this we ordered room service and the girls are now down for a nap but we will wake them up shortly as we will go to Walmart for supplies and snacks.
I will check in tomorrow.