Reflections on Presentation Day

Maria Teresa de Perez (our driver) called around 8 am to tell us we would have our presentation at around 11:30 am and she would pick us up around 11 am. No problem. We had been up since 7 am; dressed and ready to go by 8 am, and thought to ourselves, "What are we going to do until 11?" Shopping or site seeing really doesn't seem that important or interesting on the day we're to receive our daughter!

That's why we were delighted to get a call from the Ochockis an hour later welcoming us to Bogota. We were even more delighted when Dana said they were all out front of our apartment. It took us a bit to make our way through the labrynith apartment complex and to actually find what "out front" meant, but we finally found them. They gave us an abbreviated tour of our area, which was wonderful since it was so dark when we arrived the night before. We went to a bank close by to get Colombian pesos and afterwards the Ochackis took off to get ready for our presentation at FANA. Shortly after returning to our room, Maria Teresa called again and said she'd be here at 10:30 now. "Alright!" we said. We were ready to go! We were able to hitch a ride with the Ochockis for the 30 minute drive to FANA and Maria Teresa commented that the drive with new parents was very quiet--nerves and excitement, I suppose...

When we arrived at FANA, Ryan and I were anxious to get to the fabled green room (where all the presentations are done). We looked around the beautiful room filled with pictures of "chosen" children, each one precious. I didn't know *when* I would cry, but felt quite certain it would happen. (It actually happened before I saw Sophia) There is a miraculous aura in the green room, as if you can feel all of the dreams that have been fulfilled there. As I was reading a poem on a plaque entitled "The Chosen One," I thought of Sophia and vowed to make sure she always believes the words it holds.

We were asked for Sophia's presentation outfit, and while she was being dressed, we spoke with Elizabeth, the head nurse at FANA. After speaking with Elizabeth, We waited for the Christophersons to speak with her about little Ava. When they'd finished, Mercedes came up to us and said, "You're first, are you ready?" Ryan nervously responded with a laugh, "I sure hope so." Mercedes' response was, "You hope so?" Thankfu'lly, Julie swung to the rescue and answered reassuringly, "Yes. We're ready." Wow. Okay, here we go!

We handed off cameras and stood holding hands, anxiously looking around the corner. We wondered, "How would Sophia respond to her new parents? Would she cry? Would she smile?" The truth is, she did neither. She furrowed her little eyebrows together and gave us this very serious look that said, "Don't you dare think I'm going to smile at you people!" Her expression remained pretty much the same until she received her bottle and made it back to our apartment. Then she started to open up, revealing a sweet smile and bright eyes (which are becoming brighter all the time).

She has since shown us many facial expressions. She still uses her "serious look" for times when we're not doing something she's ready for (like waking her up intentionally so we could head out and grab some food), but when she's alert, fed, and changed she blows bubbles and smiles wide. Her daddy makes her smile when he fans her with her blanket and her mommy makes her smile when she speaks to her affectionately in Spanish.

(Sorry for not getting this out yesterday, Sophia wanted to party last night and kept us up into the wee hours of the morning...)