Today at approximately 4pm (3am CDT), we became parents! We instantly fell in love with Nealy, and I am not an expert but I think she fell in love right back. The books on International Adoption all say "it is a good thing if the baby cries when you first get her". It means that she has attached once already and it will be easier to form a new attachment. I wonder what the books say about the new family that gets almost immediate smiles from their new daughter, followed by laughter and eye contact. I think the only word to describe it is "Blessed"! This pretty much sums up todays events.

Our accomplishments today include...

• Nealy has not cried, even with John holding her. She has laughed a lot and sang. We think she is going to be quite chatty.
• A couple of diaper changes, nothing smelly.
• She has eaten for us twice and is a very good eater although looking at her size you might wonder. She drank the formula we brought with us with no problem or extra sugar added.
• We gave her a bath, although it took both of us to accomplish. Nealy is clean and had a ball splashing in the water. She doesn't even mind water in her face!

We know that tomorrow is a new day and that Nealy may wake up and realize that we just completely changed everything that she knows and is used to, but today we are in absolute bliss!