Gotcha Day #2!

Introducing Samuel Thomas Jun Smith!

Sam was brought to us in the hotel this morning.  A little different procedure than we have had before.  We have always met at the Civil Affairs office and received our child there.  This was a lot more fun.  We were still eating breakfast and our guide had still not arrived, when three women came into the hotel lobby with this little boy.  We knew immediately that it was him and they also knew.  We were sitting at the edge of the restaurant and they could see us easily.  They brought him right in and we met him right there. We quickly finished our breakfast and then went our to the lobby to really meet Sam.

What a cutie he is!  Just as handsome as his pictures.  He doesn't hear anything but he does make a lot of sounds.  This is so new to us.  It was so cute listening to him babble all day.  He is very sweet, has a lot of expression and has a big belly laugh.  He is a chunk, weighs probably 35 pounds.  He is also very strong-willed.  I thought Reese was strong willed, well she has met her match!  I am sure this is very hard on him.  Not being able to be reassured by the orphanage staff and then left with all of these foreign people.  It is frustrating enough being almost three but then not being able to express yourself to get your needs met makes everything extra hard.  When we were still doing paperwork in our room he got a hold of the temporary guardianship paper and when Baylee and I tried to get it away from him he quickly wadded it up in a ball.  It was sort of funny but not so great in demonstrating my ability to parent him.  Later he threw a plastic toy and it hit Hayden in the face.  It really hurt, she was all of two feet in front of him.  She was also very tired and then started crying.  You could tell he felt bad, he kept following her around and finally gave her a kiss to make it better.  Pretty cute!

One of the women that came today was younger and was dressed very nice.  Her hair was all styled and she wore fashionable clothes compared to the other ladies.  She was holding a package which I assumed was adoption papers.  The woman in charge told us that she had something to give us and  that she was his sister.  My mouth about dropped.  After some clarification we found out that Sam had been in foster care for most of his life with this girl's family.  She was heart broken.  She gave us the package and in it was a baby photo album that they had had made for him plus pictures of her family and a letter from her.  She expressed so much love for him from her entire family and said that he was such an important part of their lives.  She gave us all of their contact information to stay in touch.  It was such a nice surprise.  The orphanage director was not happy when she discovered what it was and tried to take some pictures of the family away from me.  I think she thought she would get in trouble with the director if she found out that this girl came and met us.  Hopefully we will be able to stay in touch.

Addisyn is loving her new little brother.  A new little playmate.  She did have a meltdown for about an hour where she just quietly cried, seemed very, very sad.  I held her for a long time while Baylee and Hayden entertained Sam.  I assume she was partially homesick, partially didn't like sharing the limelight and partially very confused about what is going on in her life.

Can't wait for you all to meet them!  They are both precious.