The first time ever I saw your face.

As promised, Y called in the morning with information about Baby S. But that was not all, she had another surprise for us. Y very matter of fact informed us that N, the agency director wanted us to depart on July 4th. EXCUSE ME? This woman had us convinced we would have to wait for so long, and NOW she is talking about us leaving in less than a month? We did not mind, but come on, how about getting your information down before you eviscerate someone. But wait, there's more. Our agency has "deals" that benefit them financially. One of those deals is with a travel agency. Y stated that we would receive information about their packages with Baby S's pictures.

We knew from previous APs that all their packages are from and to LAX. While we would not mind an extra hour on an airplane on the way to China, there is no way we wanted our daughter to spend extra time confined in an airplane. Also, we had decided that we wanted SFO to be her port of entry. P entered this world in San Francisco, and he wanted his daughter to enter the U.S through the same city. Here is where the fun begins. If you choose to make your own travel arrangements, your penalty is that you are given an outrageous deadline, AND you must arrive in China a day earlier than the travel group. You know, to allow for more "deals." Still hate that blackmail tactic. Y informed me that we had until Friday morning to make flight reservations, but warned us not to purchase our tickets until N "reviewed and approved the travel schedule." At this point, P and I were stunned that we basically had two days to get our International travel plans together. We were also annoyed at the iron fisted way to get us to "comply," with their scam, I mean preferences. Still, we were happy, elated, in a total daze. I called the agency, to inquire about at least touring The Great Wall, but the travel agent stated we needed a minimum of five days for their tours. With P having one week vacation, and having to beg for the extra time, we both knew we could not make it. The TA was skeptical that we would be able to depart July 4th, because of the time needed to secure a visa. Now, as much as I snark on our agency, I do give N credit for getting our visas and Consulate appointment in what seemed like an impossible deadline.

Whether it is U.P.$ or F*d E.x, our home is one of the last stops on their routes. U.P.$ usually gets here at 5:00 or later, so we knew we had quite a wait. At approximately 3:30 p.m., P could not stand it any longer and told his supervisor that he needed to be home. His supervisor is a rather cold man, but he knew that P was worthless, a mess of nerves and told him to go home. P had been home less than thirty minutes when I heard the FE truck pull up outside. We accosted, I mean, happily greeted Corey, whom upon learning about his precious cargo, happily posed for pictures. Right now I am freaking out, because I cannot locate those pictures. *P just informed me that we took the pics with our old K0dak. I can't find them and will be spending all my free time searching for them.*

We happily dragged our excited behinds indoors and were greeted by the most amazing mug ever. Remember that post?



It was so surreal looking at her beautiful face for the first time. Her mugshot was very deceptive because it made us think that she was plump. While her smiling picture was our favorite then, her mug shot is our favorite hands down. There is something about Baby S's eyes that remind us of the first time we met. We can clearly see that scared little girl and our hearts ache for her.

We did not know it at the time, but we would see that fierce look many times over the next year.

Last but not least, The Smile, that beautiful smile that we have been blessed to enjoy daily. No matter what a difficult day SS has, she always smiles. Now that we know better, we think that Baby S was laughing at us, not with us. :) And of course, the tongue in action, a habit to this day.

Once we were able to form a coherent thought, we set out to get our scanner to post Baby S's pictures. The scanner had not been used in over a year and was still in the garage. That is when we realized that the albatross was not working. We went to Kink0's , scanned the pictures and rushed home to blog about our baby girl.

That night, P and I celebrated by having this:

Yep, we still have the bottle as a keepsake for SS.

One year later, lots of hair, smiles and attitude. SS, we will never forget the first time ever we saw your face.