We decided to post a few more pictures before we call it a night with the internet. This is Laura playing before she fell asleep for her nap this afternoon. It has been hard to catch a picture of her smiling...this is about as good as it gets today! She isn't feeling well and has been pretty fussy. But we've worked together to try to keep her somewhat happy. We also had a really nice time in the bath tonight. After we got her dried off and in her jammies...she was the calmest we had seen all day. We are doing bath time everyday!! Laura's favorite thing to do is suck on her fingers. The doctor that came by today to check on her cold told us that it would be good if we could get her to switch from her fingers to a pacifer...but so far she will have none of that!! Putting a pacifer in her mouth just makes her want a bottle, I think. Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments...we have loved reading everyone of them. I have cried several time while reading them out-loud to Shawn:) We appreciate all you prayer, encouragement, and support. We can't wait to get home so you can all meet Laura in person!

Day two with Laura ... and a hippo

Well, it's our second day with Laura and things are going well. She's still recovering from a little conjestion, but she seems to be doing better. We gave her some medicine through an inhaler and a hippo. Yea, a hippo. We use a typical inhaler and connect it to this plastic contraption shaped like a hippo's mouth. The hippos mouth goes over Laura's face so that she breaths in all of the medicine. I can't make this stuff up. There is a whole new world with raising kids that is pretty fascinating. Anyway, Laura seemed to do pretty well with it considering that we were pressing something to her face. She gets a little fussy here and there but she's a lot of fun. Her cry isn't that bad either. It's not like one of those gutwrenching hold your ears kind of cries. It almost has a song-like tone. Not what I was expecting. Anyway, here is a quick shot of Stephanie and Laura waiting for an interview with a Colombian social worker. It went well. Laura was probably the fussiest during the interview -- which really wasn't so bad. A crying baby has a way of wrapping up a potentially long interview in a hurry. We answered a couple questions, signed some papers and were out of there. The bad part was that we left our passports there, and I had to go back to get them. Stephanie and Laura stayed at the hotel while I also wrapped up some visa issues with our agency representative. The whole process is going really smooth so far. Keep praying that the fast pace will continue. We'll try to check back with another photo later.

Worth the Wait!

Here she finally is!! Laura Claire has finally arrived to our family. She is doing well -- a little cough and sniffle here and there -- but she is adjusting to a full day of activity. We arrived at the orphanage around 11:30 a.m. to do some paper work and sign this and that. And then the moment finally arrived. We were seated at the corner of a room next to the door where she would enter. Stephanie and I kept looking at each other going, "Can you believe this?" The moment I first saw her my eyes immediately went to that full head of spiky hair. Stephanie held her first -- of course -- and then it was my turn. Laura was in a great mood, and pretty much didn't seem to know what was going on. She definitely didn't mind all of the attention. She was smiling, especially when people talked to her in Spanish. Stephanie and I still plan to learn more words so we can sing and talk to her in her native tongue. There is a Spanish channel that we might turn on occasionally so we can watch her response. Right now she is snoozing away. Earlier today when she was taking a nap, Stephanie and I found ourselves just staring at her, watching her sleep. It was pretty cool. Anyway that's all for now. Here are some more pictures from our first day with our beautiful daughter.

The moment we first saw her!












Getting to know each other.













Playing with mom.














Her first bottle from us...we happen to be in a cab...no carseats in Colombia!! It was either hold her tight or strap her to the top of the car...just kidding:)
















Down for the night...hopefully:)









P.S. Men always forget this...she weighs about 16lbs. She is much bigger than we anticipated but everything still fits fine for now. Check back tomorrow for more pictures!

Big Day!

Today is the big day. Stephanie and I probably can't put into words all that we're feeling today -- nervous, excited, overwhelmed. We know that in the next few hours our world is going to be totally different ... and we can't wait! It's been a long journey, and we are truly thankful for all of the prayers and support we've recieved and will continue to receive from friends and family. We'll be leaving in a little while to go get little Laura and plan to send out photos and all the details later today. We'll keep ya posted.